Bartley File Cabinets - In Cherry

[Uncle Hook]

Here are few pictures of a pair of solid cherry file cabinets I just finished. The cabinets were purchased many years ago as kits from the Bartley Collection by one of my mentors at work. He partially assembled the cabinets and asked me to complete them for his wife before he died of cancer this past year. I enjoyed completing the cabinets and I just delivered them to her.

The drawers of the cabinets were glued up out of square. You can read more about the problem and how I fixed it here.

http://bt3central.com/showthread.php?t=39834

The cabinets were sanded to 220 grit. A washcoat of Shellac (50% Alcohol - 50% Zisner's Sealcoat, a wax free shellac) was applied to prevent splotching / blotching (I can never remember the correct term.). Two Bartley gel stains were used to blend the sapwood into the heartwood. A few more coats of shellac were then applied. 0000 steel wool and 360 wet dry paper was used in between coats. This was the first time I had used shellac and I struggled to get a good result (I think I applied too many coats). I ended up applying several top coats of Minwax Antique Oil finish which I love, but can't find any more.

[Uncle Cracker]

Nice work!

[docrowan]

Beautiful work!

[shoottx]

Very Cool

Nice work and a great gesture!

[SARGE..g-47]

Looks good from what I see in the picture but... what effect did the shellac produce to conclude you used used too many coats? Just curious as if I were going to use de-waxed as a wash-coat.. then apply oil based stain and an oil based top finish, I would have probably only used one or possibly two coats of de-waxed then scuff sanded before applying the oil gel stain.

If shellac had been used as a finish coat.. then you really can't put too many as long as you fine sand between. Unlike coats of oil finish that basically sit on top of each other... each coat of shellac blends with the other to form one unified coat. If you are going to do a final rub-out using strickly shellac you need a number of thin coats blended before you rub out to avoid rub through.

Again.. just curious as to what you feel happened as I have never approached it the way you did? But... the results look nice in the picture to me but pictures don't always reveal all that your eye can see when physically looking.

Regards...

[Uncle Hook]

... what effect did the shellac produce to conclude you used used too many coats?

The basic problem was that I couldn't get the shellac to level out and produce a nice smoth finish on top. I think my mistake was in not sanding between the first few coats and allowing enough time for the shellac to fully harden. I tried added more coats of shellac to solve the problem and the shellac got thicker but not much smoother. After I realized my mistake I tried sanding and using steel wool and my results improved. I simply ran out of time for a shellac only finish and the Minwax Antique Oil quickly evened out the finish and achieved the end result I was looking for. The shellac finish looks beautiful by itself. The photos of the cabinets without the drawers are shellac only (maybe with only one or two coats) without any antique oil.

I also had a problem with the shellac not drying in places. I concluded I had applied too much shellac (or I had re-applied it too quickly) because I had a goody mess that wouldn't dry in some places. I solved the problem by removing most of the shellac in the gooy spots and then adding more to blend in.. That's when I could really see how much shellac I had applied.

Everything I have read on using shellac wash-coats suggests applying a single coat before stain is applied. I am not sure stain would penetrate the wood if more than one wash coast were used. By the way the shellac does a beautiful job of preventing the splotching / blotching of both stains and oil finishes. I was amazed by the improved appearance of the finish I achieved in my test results by applying the Antique Oil over a washcoat without any stain (as opposed to applying oil on bbare wood). I only applied stain where I had sap wood. I tested 6-8 different Bartley Gel Stains and found that "Country Maple" followed by "Warm Cherry" blended well with the heartwood.

[SARGE..g-47]

Thanks for the reply, Uncle Hook. I had a feeling what you would say and now pretty much confirmed. The first time I used shellac I did basically the same thing even though I was working with waxed shellac. I laid a heavy cost on with a brush.. let it dry.. another heavy coat.. let it dry and then did some sanding... It was way to thick using a brush and it never really blended as it should.

De-natured alcohol will help blend it and smooth it out but... I never did get it right so I sanded down and basically started again at ground zero. I also never use a brush to lay a coat anymore. I cut waxed shellac (which is aobut a 3 lb. cut with dewaxed sealer being about a 2 lb. cut) down to about 1 1/2 lb. at this point and "pad" it on.

BTW.. shellac will dry even in low temperatures and usually within 30 minutes fully. I highly suspect your not drying may have been caused by the shellac being out of code and old which is not a good thing with shellac. Even if you just purchased it.. the dummies at the store put new stock in front of old stock I have found. There is a code on every can and I look just as I do Titebond glue. I won't purchase any that is older than 6 months max and prefer much newer.

If you have a store that doesn't turn shellac stock often... that is more often likely. I saw a gallon can the other day at HD that was almost 2 years old. They don't sell many gallons obviously and the newer (about a year old) was in front of the old. The Box stores at their finest with such knowledge-able help.

Again.. it turned out nice and the person getting it should be pleased...

Regards...

[Pappy]

Beautiful results. And these were from a kit? May have too look into those.

[lrogers]

Those are really nice.

[Uncle Hook]

Yes - these were assembled from a kit called "The File Cabinet" which Bartley does not currently offer for sale. They periodically do new cuttings of different items. If you write them they might consider adding a file cabinet cutting.

http://www.bartleycollection.com/

The Bartley kits are not inexpensive, but they have a great collection of designs. Many are copies of museum pieces. The quality of their kits seems very good.

When I delivered the file cabinets I saw this beautiful desk. It is a compact size and an elegant design. Its on my list to finish next.

http://www.bartleycollection.com/cat...products_id/63

Someday I want to build this awesome Newport block front chest.

http://www.bartleycollection.com/cat...products_id/47

[MilDoc]

Nope. Don't like 'em. Not at all.

Right. Not.

Just jealous.

[chopnhack]

Really nice work, the design is great too. You did a really good job matching the wood. I had to take a closer look to even realize that the sides were smaller planks of solid wood. Good work!

[Schleeper]

Nicely done, Uncle Hook. Your posting was of particular interest to me, as I'm still wrestling with the choice of wood and finish for our kitchen cabinets. I, too, have half a dozen cans of Bartley gel stains (as well as their gel varnish) that I've been experimenting with. The washcoat is something I haven't tried yet, but I'm heading out to pick up some Zinsser Sealcoat shortly, because blotching has been readily evident in what I've looked at so far (both on cherry and hard maple.)

Of even more significance, for me anyway, is the story behind the project. The fact that you did it to fulfill the wish of a dying friend, is something I find incredibly moving. (Then again, I get choked up over Hallmark greeting card commercials!) Presenting the finished project to his widow must have been an emotional experience for both of you.

Thanks for sharing this with us.

[Bill in Buena Park]

Very nice job, Hook. Especially like the look of the corners. I may need to "borrow" that look for a pillar-style desk I've been considering.

[John Hunter]

Very nice.