This evening was the start of finishing of the cage assembly. Got out the wood putty and the sanding tools (#220 and blocks) and went to work. The color of the putty was a bit more red than the Baltic Birch but the defects to fill were pretty small. Getting the ring edges smooth took a lot of attention. After the first cleanup I felt things over and mulled over sanding more or starting to varnish. Heck, there's really only this chance to get a smooth surface, so I went back to sand some more. Then out with the vacuum and the tack cloth again, gave a critical look, touched up a couple rough defects, and called it GOOD.I'm using AstroSystem's varnish recommendation - MinWax Helmsman Spar Urethane, both brush on and aerosol. For the first coat, I thinned it 50-50 with mineral spirits. That sure helped get the finish into the wood and it also decreased the drying time, allowing me to flip the cage to paint the other end. The wood color became slightly more yellow and the contrast increased. All in all, this product is doing a nice job.
Tomorrow - light sanding and full-strength coat. Should I call that the first coat or second? Hmmm...
16 August 2007
Gave a nearly full-strength coat with brush of varnish this evening with some fine sanding with #320 before that. Cut varnish 1 part spirits to 10 parts varnish. I did the clamp blocks first and worked slowly. By the time I had everything that was visible coated, the blocks were dry enough to turn over onto some wood strips. I think tomorrow I'll do another coat with brush, then follow that the day after with aerosol.
18 August 2007
Saturday...after fine sanding the brushed on varnish on the cage, I strung it up using the pre-drilled holes in the spacers to apply aerosol varnish. Three coats spaced 30 minutes apart and it's done...except for some post-finish #0000 rubbing with steel wool and maybe some wax. Hmmm, wax...might defeat the purpose of the satin finish. Have to try that out on something else first.
Next up - locating and gluing the baffle retainers onto the filter slide box. I thought this step was kinda weak in the instructions. Because the retainers are very small in cross-section, it was impossible to use a clamp on them without having them slide around under pressure. The box had to be stood vertically so the retainers wouldn't ooze away while the epoxy set up. In retrospect, temporarily tacking them to the slide box with a small brad would have been the way to go. Oh well, I'm sure the epoxy will hold them just great.19 August 2007
A couple coats of brush on varnish and a couple of aerosol on the front surface, some Ultra Flat on the back, and the finishing of the slide box is complete.
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