Hey all

Sorry if this is too spammy, but it's not like this place is really all that busy lately, hopefully this shameless plug for my new business venture isn't too out of bounds.

Anyways, I recently started woodworking, and have made too many things to hang on my own walls, so I opened an online store on Etsy.com to sell my wares.

Check it out!

http://www.etsy.com/shop/stainsandgrains

interesting. where are you getting lumber? what are you doing with them? clamping them to a base with some glue? how are you doing the corners? just a standard 45 degree miter? is that minwax on just porous wood? i can't tell if you're using any clearcoat for protection, whether you thinned it or something.

sorry for the questions, i have been woodworking for a long while.

Nice work man!

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Hold my beer and watch this...

Nice, then you can probably offer me some advice, as i've been woodworking for about 3 months now, and really, honestly don't know what i'm doing. Basically improvising here (but it seems to do the trick)

1) lumber is from a couple sources, I try and find it just laying around somewhere, and I have some old shipping pallets i'm going to use, but most of it is from Lowes, there is a store not a quarter mile from my house, so it's pretty convenient.

2) No clamping at all, just precise cuts so they fit together well, and laid in place with glue. (although for the frames and backing I use regular wood screws)

3) Most of the cutting is with the Mitre saw, but I've also got a table saw and band saw which come in handy. But yeah, the frames and stuff are just regular old 45 degree cuts.

4) It's minwax/cabot/rustoleum stains, on various woods (I've been buying this stuff called "stain grade lumber" lately. It's a piece of really nice wood, good grain presentation, no knots, and wrapped in plastic. It's kind of expensive, but it really shows the stain off better.

5) No clearcoat as of yet. I figure these are art pieces, going on someones wall. They're not going to be subjected to weather, probably not even to direct sunlight. so clearcoat wouldn't be necessary. Am I wrong about that? Do you think I should start polyurethaning these things?

Also, I had been using JUST stains, but the colors are pretty limited, so with one piece, the blue-ish one I started getting regular latex paint, dilute it a LOT (something like 5 parts water, 1 part paint) and it reproduces the transparency of stain, so the grain is still visible.

Thanks dude, it's been pretty satisfying. Although the wife is starting to complain that i'm out in the garage all the time...

i thought some of that was scraps, that's a great use for that. when you say wood screws, do you mean pocket screws? (drill a hole and put the screw in?)

you should practice different jointing techniques, people love fancy corners. dovetails, mortise and tenon, dado (my favorite) etc. all of these take practice but they look great.

stain grade lumber...never heard of it. i spend a LOT of time choosing lumber when i get it and i guess that's sort of the same thing...i'm guessing you don't have to sand too much since it comes shrinkwrapped. remember, different roughness of wood gives different appearances with the same stain.

personally, i like to clear everything a little, even if it's not gloss. it's totally up to you, but even indoor lighting can break things down. so i like to just get a good seal over the stain. personal preference. i've used this clear based stuff minwax makes before and it comes in all sorts of funny colors (http://www.minwax.com/wood-products/sta ... PAodZgoAkw). it hurts my heart to paint wood so i have stained a lot, and all I really know is that I HATE POLYSHADES.

if i could give you a couple things it took me a while to learn they would be:
learn to use a router, early and well
use very clean cutting blades (lots of teeth)
CLAMP EVERYTHING ALL OF THE TIME

by the way, this stuff is pretty cool, good work. i can tell you have a very good eye for detail!

Yeah, I do want to learn different jointing techniques, if I end up getting into this further i'll definitely need to learn a lot of tricks, and get some new tools.

I think i'll try putting a clearcoat on next time, see if I can visually tell the difference. It's probably a good idea to put some on after the stain anyways.

Haha...I'm still a newb at this, and even I've discovered that Polyshades sucks complete a-hole.

I sent you a PM, jeremy

What the....dude, this link just blew my mind, I don't even recognize 80% of that stuff. I feel kind of stupid now for never having checked online for different colors and types of stain, and i've just been going to my local lowes for supplies, where I pick out "Stain". Not the 4 or 5 different varieties of stain you just linked me to. I really need to do some research at some point, figure out what other kind of options I have.

dude, you should make me a beer die table.

for free of course.

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Beer die, what's that?

No you didn't.

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YiR - your stuff looks great. Do you take requests?

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Definitely, we can use existing designs in my store as a template for change, or come up with something totally original, what do you have in mind?

(and i'm still working on complex stuff like a sabres logo, so....don't request that yet!)

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Haha...yeah, I kinda figured that's what you'd want. Once I get the nerve to actually try cutting that thing out on my scrollsaw i'll give it a shot and let you see how it went. For now my stuff is fairly simple.

Keeping an eye on this. Good work so far, I just might hit you up one of these days.

Thanks man, I appreciate that.

I'll post back here every once in a while to show off a new piece, if something ever catches your eye let me know, we can definitely work on the price a bit . I know this stuff is expensive, but i'm not really going for a 'volume' business, this stuff DOES take a good amount of time and attention after all.

Just posted a new piece last night:

https://www.etsy.com/listing/121257162/ ... e-shipping

Don't apologize for your prices. You're making handcrafted items, you're not pumping out junk.