Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion The Water Cooler Help from you expert woodworkers

Wood-fi is not my expertise.

Over the weekend, I was able to find a pre-built Bottlehead S.E.X amp. (Hope I receive it some time this week.) The previous owner built it, though not as anal retentive w/ the wiring as I would have liked. But heck, as long as it works w/ my Grados I'm good.

The metal plate and transformer housings seem to have have oxidized a bit so I'll probably do some wet sanding on it to make it look a little nicer. However, the alder wood base is still raw wood, glued together. I'd like to finish the wood but I'm not sure of the right process. I probably could figure it out but thought I'd ask here and perhaps some might give some detailed steps to follow.

I have to wait until I see the box before I decide to stain it. If the grain is nice enough, I may be OK w/ just sealing it.

What would be the steps to
1) Stain and seal it OR
2) Seal it?

I know it'll be steps of applying coats and sanding, but not sure how much and when to apply what grit. I can also use the inside of the box to test stains/seals before I commit.

Thanks fellas in advance.

Pics?

Generally, you would want to sand in progressively-finer grits...from 8o through maybe 220 or even 320. Assuming that the wood is already mostly "there", I'd start with 180 then use 220 and end with 320.

Staining, and then applying a finishing coat would be next, but it's hard to give instruction with that because it's TOTALLY dependent upon which materials you want to use. You may want to consider an all-in-one solution, such as Minwax Polyshades or something similar from another brand. Matter of fact, the Minwax site itself has lots of tips and techniques for wood finishing.

If you DO like the color and look of it as it is, I would probably just apply a clear polyurethane (even water-based for easy cleanup). That would give it good protection and be one of the more "transparent" finishes you could choose.

Minwax is an excellent product. I would recommend using Polyshades over an existing finish myself, where the grain of the wood has already been sealed previously but you want to change the colour. If the wood is bare with no finish, my preference would be to stain then seal afterward.

I didn't think what you guys call "grits" down in the States would be very good for sanding wood, even your "finer grits" which I can only assume are made with bacon flavor.

I had grits in Kentucky, I think they could have been used on wood.

I like wood working, love it. I hate finishing. Finishing is an art in itself and can take much longer and more effort than actually building the damn thing…..

But I do finish out of necessity. Mark covered the sanding part. 320 is as fine of a grit paper as I ever use, even for high gloss finish work. Use an orbital sander and not one of the cheap bastards that wiggle in one direction.

After you are done sanding, you can stain it to suit your preference. I use Minwax stains. I prefer to apply them by hand in a wipe on / wipe off manner. I just put the surgical gloves on; use a shop rag and a bucket. Get the rag saturated, rub the stain all over the thing, let it sit for about twenty minutes, then wipe off excess stain with a clean shop rag. Then let the stain dry for 12 hours minimum.

I do not like the poly’s that have stain added to them. They are a down right pain in the ass to use. They set up too quick so you end up with a non-uniformly finished product.

I find oil based poly’s and other clear coat finishes much, much easier to apply than water based. I have never been able to do a table top with water based products and not have tiny bubbles and runs or brush marks. I suppose if you can spray it, it may be easier to use. I don’t have a spray booth, so I have to use a brush. However, I tend to use water based products mostly because the clean up is easier. You just wash the brushes in the sink afterwards. So….you need to decide if you want easy clean up and do your best with water based, or go oil based.

You also need to decide if you want a satin, semi gloss or gloss finish. As you go towards glossy, the difficulty increases. Satin hides a lot of sins and you can usually get away with two coats. If you want high gloss, you’ll be doing at least four coats.

Apply the first coat and let it dry. (water based dries much quicker). Use 400 grit paper or 000 steel wool to buff the clear coat. Water based products will “raise the grain”, so you’ll probably sand most of the little wood fibers down with most of the top coat. Apply another coat and buff again. Keep doing this till it’s done. Only you and your patience level will determine when done is done.

As a side note, I just noticed that Minwax has a rub on poly out. I have not tried it yet, but I will be pretty excited if it works well. Using brushes sucks……

………..I hate finishing.

I hand-finished an armoire I bought at an unfinished furniture store about 6 years ago. I used a couple coats of water-based stain. I applied with a foam brush, let sit for a few minutes, and wiped off with a shop rag. I then applied three coats of water-based satin poly with a foam brush, sanding lightly with fine paper between coats. It came out extremely well with no streaks or brush marks. Most of the piece is vertical, so I was pretty surprised at that.

I didn't stain the top, but I did put a couple coats of poly up there. Makes dusting a heck of a lot easier.

I forget if I used Varathane or Minwax.

Thanks fellas, all good info.

Thanks to you Mike. Yeah, I usually lean toward water-based stuff, I prefer the easy clean up. I've had nightmares dealing w/ clean up after painting w/ oil based materials.

Hmm, if this is the Minwax you're talking about, that just might do the job.

http://www.minwax.com/products/water_based_clear_protective_finishes/water_based_wipe_on_poly.html

I've got to dig out my old sanding block but if that rub on Minwax works, I may get away w/ a relatively easy job.

Here's some pix. Seems like a little excess glue on the edge, hopefully it's shallow enough to sand off and didn't seep in, though I'm afraid it might have.

Granted this is all dependent on if it sounds good. If not, then my work will be done.

Don't be too concerned with oil based stains as far as clean up goes, you'll be using either a couple of rags, cheap dollar store foam or bristle throw-away brushes(use some latex gloves as Micah suggested if ragging). Oil based paints are a different story though.

A nice deep cherry colour would look nice on your amp...hint...hint...

Ditto the dark cherry. Good contrast with the metal face.