Not so fine woodworking

June 2nd, 2011 in blogs 
This small three drawer dresser made from pine and manufactured in Brazil sat in storage unfinished for several years.  Some sanding and a couple coats of paint makes for a quick piece of furniture for the babys room.
Photo: Kelly J. Dunton
I suspect that all us “woodworkers” get requests for projects that are less than fine from time to time.
I got such a project through an inheritance of sorts.  While moving, again, my other half retrieved out of storage, a small pine three-drawer side table dresser.  Now this is a solid wood production piece that had no finish whatsoever applied to it.  The drawers and sides are screwed together and the drawer runners are nailed in position. The top and feet were water stained from damp storage in a New England basement. Spiders had taken up residence inside this small piece of furniture.  It was less than desirable from my "holier than though" fine woodworking perspective.  Secretly I was wishing to toss it into the garbage.
With the addition of a daughter to our family came the need for more storage.  Funny how much room such a small person needs for her tiny things. So, over the Memorial day weekend while cleaning the garage and making room for a little "shop space," I needed to get the little pine dresser out of my way.  I decided to fix it up since throwing it out was really out of the question. At first I wanted to give it a good Fine Woodworking finish.  I started to clean it and eventually I had the top off and was handplaning the surface smooth. I had to clamp the top flat to get the plane to remove material evenly.  What a nightmare.  This finally led to primer and paint after a quick “go-ahead, sounds good to me.”  In the end, I finished the interior surfaces with shellac and the top first with shellac and then water based polyurethane.  Several hours of sanding and painting and I’ve secured just that much more room in my little "shop." Oh, and storage for the baby’s things…

posted in: blogs, pine, chest of drawers, kids Furniture, painted fruniture

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