Update on the Poor Chest of Drawers
10/13/05 11:37 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
wobblerlorriFINALLY got the carcase completely stripped! It's lovely wood, I still can't fathom why anyone would put so much fucking PAINT on it. Now I just have to strip the drawers. I'm getting over the whole project, I'm thinking about only stripping the fronts...but then that's the sort of half-assedness that messed up the poor thing in the first place. So I'll strip the fronts and sides, at least the sides that have been painted. The insides of the drawers are still the original stain, which has darkened to near black. Maybe a good cleaning with mineral spirits will take care of that....
I'll try to get some pics of the carcase tomorrow. I've got to rinse it with mineral spirits, then wash it down with soap and water, rinse, then mineral spirits again. THEN I'm going to bleach the whole thing, since the stripper removed a good deal of the original finish along with the paint, and start with a clean slate. Yes, this will all raise the grain, so it will get a good sanding before I finish it.
The finish is going to be a layer of water-based Minwax Golden Oak stain, then about 3 coats of the same stain in a poly base, sanding between coats and finishing with a nice satin sheen. Then about 3 coats of good ol' Briwax, and up to my bedroom.
After I wash it tomorrow, I'll finish cutting out the parts for a Shire rocking horse for a friend's little boy for Christmas. I'm hoping other draft horsey people will see it and want one for their kids or grandkids -- once they're cut out they look to go together pretty easy, and I think I could get about $150 - $200 for them.
But my BIG plan... is to learn to make Victorian style rocking horses. The ones that look like REAL horses, so I have to learn to carve. Here's a picture of one (yeah, it's big, so it's behind a cut):
They're gorgeous, and people get lots of money for them. Here in the US they go for around $4000 to $5000 each, and yes, they're sturdy enough for adults to ride. (In fact, I'm going to make ME one!) Even if I only make 2 or 3 a year, that's $12 to $15K more than I'm making now, and it'll be something I like doing.
We'll see. I'm going to learn carving over the winter.
Let's see...in other news, my annual mammogram came back negative, so my tits are safe for another year. My blood pressure is low enough that I'm on Lotensin only now, instead of Lotrel, which is Norvasc and Lotensin combined. Had my teeth cleaned today, had a checkup two weeks ago and even with no dental care for 2 or 3 yrs, I had no cavities, so that proves it's more important to floss than it is to brush. Mike brushes obsessively but never flosses, and he had to have deep cleaning and root planing and a butt load of fillings -- I don't brush but 2 or 3 times a week, but my hobby is flossing, and I have no problems and had the normal kind of cleaning. So HAH! to all the 3 times a day brushers -- LEARN TO FLOSS!!
I've lost a grand total of 123 lbs in 10 months, and I'm only 40 lbs from the goal my surgeon set, 180 lbs. Personally I think I want to get to 160, but we'll see. Kim the Siamese is having her twice-yearly bout of Crater Butt (she gets these big zits on either side of her ass, but not anal glands, these are really more over her trocanters), luckily she licks them and gets them open then keeps them clean herself. That means No Expensive Vet Visits. We've decided to sell the last 17 acres in Monticello; I have mixed feelings about that. My family has owned land in Monticello since 1802. But we need the money and we're too far away to do anything with it.
We're probably going to buy about 6 acres or so out here in a few years, and then I'm going to get a nice, bomb-proof, SHORT Appaloosa mare, a black leopard. Does anyone know the Chinese or Mongolian word for "princess"? That's what I'll call her, my Oriental princess...
Lorri
All over the place tonight
I'll try to get some pics of the carcase tomorrow. I've got to rinse it with mineral spirits, then wash it down with soap and water, rinse, then mineral spirits again. THEN I'm going to bleach the whole thing, since the stripper removed a good deal of the original finish along with the paint, and start with a clean slate. Yes, this will all raise the grain, so it will get a good sanding before I finish it.
The finish is going to be a layer of water-based Minwax Golden Oak stain, then about 3 coats of the same stain in a poly base, sanding between coats and finishing with a nice satin sheen. Then about 3 coats of good ol' Briwax, and up to my bedroom.
After I wash it tomorrow, I'll finish cutting out the parts for a Shire rocking horse for a friend's little boy for Christmas. I'm hoping other draft horsey people will see it and want one for their kids or grandkids -- once they're cut out they look to go together pretty easy, and I think I could get about $150 - $200 for them.
But my BIG plan... is to learn to make Victorian style rocking horses. The ones that look like REAL horses, so I have to learn to carve. Here's a picture of one (yeah, it's big, so it's behind a cut):
They're gorgeous, and people get lots of money for them. Here in the US they go for around $4000 to $5000 each, and yes, they're sturdy enough for adults to ride. (In fact, I'm going to make ME one!) Even if I only make 2 or 3 a year, that's $12 to $15K more than I'm making now, and it'll be something I like doing.
We'll see. I'm going to learn carving over the winter.
Let's see...in other news, my annual mammogram came back negative, so my tits are safe for another year. My blood pressure is low enough that I'm on Lotensin only now, instead of Lotrel, which is Norvasc and Lotensin combined. Had my teeth cleaned today, had a checkup two weeks ago and even with no dental care for 2 or 3 yrs, I had no cavities, so that proves it's more important to floss than it is to brush. Mike brushes obsessively but never flosses, and he had to have deep cleaning and root planing and a butt load of fillings -- I don't brush but 2 or 3 times a week, but my hobby is flossing, and I have no problems and had the normal kind of cleaning. So HAH! to all the 3 times a day brushers -- LEARN TO FLOSS!!
I've lost a grand total of 123 lbs in 10 months, and I'm only 40 lbs from the goal my surgeon set, 180 lbs. Personally I think I want to get to 160, but we'll see. Kim the Siamese is having her twice-yearly bout of Crater Butt (she gets these big zits on either side of her ass, but not anal glands, these are really more over her trocanters), luckily she licks them and gets them open then keeps them clean herself. That means No Expensive Vet Visits. We've decided to sell the last 17 acres in Monticello; I have mixed feelings about that. My family has owned land in Monticello since 1802. But we need the money and we're too far away to do anything with it.
We're probably going to buy about 6 acres or so out here in a few years, and then I'm going to get a nice, bomb-proof, SHORT Appaloosa mare, a black leopard. Does anyone know the Chinese or Mongolian word for "princess"? That's what I'll call her, my Oriental princess...
Lorri
All over the place tonight
