Stage 5: Varnish

After the glue dried, we moved the chest into a safe location where it could live for a while without being disturbed. I had originally intended to stain the walnut portions of the chest with a natural stain to make its color pop, but decided instead to use Old English dark wood oil. The oils from the stain would have penetrated just as well, but we thought we'd get a much richer effect from the Old English. We taped off the veneer to make "staining" hassle free and applied several coats, until the wood began to refuse the oils. We then buffed, let it sit overnight, and came back in the next day to repeat the process.

Some scuffs and areas that were damaged beyond repair are still visible, but do little to tarnish the overall appearance of the piece. I altered my plans again for the varnish on the cedar - I had planned on mixing stains to give us the classic cedar orange you might find in antique furniture, but found an amber shellac that was already the desired color. I removed the tape and applied a few coats, sanding in between, then began the process of sealing the entire chest with a poly coat.

For some reason (whether it was just a bad can or old I don't know), the shellac I was using wound up drying too rapidly and was going on gummy, which made it incredibly difficult to spread. The result was a varnish that was goopy in places and was difficult to sand without it gumming up the sandpaper. To add to the noise, the poly I used reacted with the shellac and gave the varnish a finish that was smooth to the touch, but scaly underneath. My theory is that as the poly dried, it didn't have enough of a tooth to bond to the shellac and it wound up pooling.

I was dissatisfied with what happened to the varnish, so I took a few hours to sand it away and start over on the lid; I wasn't worried at all about the trim. This time I used a relatively fresh can of amber shellac that spread much more smoothly and evenly, and instead of using a poly coat (which the can actually warns about) went back over with a few coats of clear shellac. Presently we're waiting on cure time. The last of the varnishing will be to finish out with a clear coat or two more, then apply cedar oil into the interior to reactivate the wood and prevent any more cracking. Otherwise we're just about finished!

Work Time: 8 Hours
Total Time: 40 Hours