École des Bro-Arts

@aphyr@woof.group
6.7K Followers
3.5K Following
19.8K Posts

Switchy leatherman into bad puns, thick boys, and distributed systems. Purveyor of fine jockstrap selfies. Woof.group admin.

Jim Starkey: "Of interest only to third-rate academics a few papers short of a tenure package."

Reddit: "would never ever ever hire this degenerate holy shit"

Peter Watts: "The most innovative fanfic I've ever read."

Bloghttps://aphyr.com
Leather Bloghttps://blog.woof.group/aphyr
Workhttps://jepsen.io
PronounsHe/Him
Always been curious about this scene. Who was he? What was the trip like? Who built the box, because that is a *seriously* impressive gear setup.
As a leftist, I just feel that if I were in charge of advertising for the local communist group I would choose figureheads not generally known for having induced the famine deaths of millions of people. There are in fact other options here!

After two weeks of this nonsense--huge dust control sheets, the kitchen being a disaster zone, wearing a respirator to enter the house for half the day... I am declaring defeat. This is as good as it's going to get. It is covered in bubbles and has a few visible lap marks, but it is at least watertight now.

I'll give it a month to cure and knock down the worst offenders with 1000-grit and a buffing wheel.

A very good boy enjoying the BBQ

This is my best coat yet, and it proudly highlights one (1) Freddie hair.

Seriously, it doesn't seem to matter how many tests I do, every time I do a coat of varnish it does something new and awful. Surprise! You thought you resealed the can but now there's a skin inside! Surprise! You poured wrong and now there are ten thousand bubbles in the cup. Surprise! Your tipping technique was *slightly* uneven and now there's a huge ridge. Surprise! Ripples for no clear reason. Surprise! White spots!

Holy cow the milkweed I planted a couple years ago has attracted its first monarch, and just now this massive black swallowtail showed up! It's mostly going for the catmint.

This time I hung sheets around the workpiece, closed the windows, turned off the air, misted down everything every 30 minutes with a spray bottle full of water, used a tack cloth continuously during sanding instead of letting it build up, and dipped my brush in mineral spirits to displace air bubbles before first brushing. Five hours later...

Still bubbles everywhere. Goddammit.

I know it's not dust because I can break them with a well-placed drop of mineral spirits.

Kringle time

After trying a bunch of brush technique changes and going for a thicker application...my second coat is somehow even worse than the first. Fuck, I wanted to have this done before the party on Sunday. Now I have to reassemble the sink, clean up all the newspaper and tape, clean, host, and set it all up again after.

Next round I'm gonna try thinning it a bit with mineral spirits, and also dipping the brush in spirits first.

Re-varnishing the wood countertop today. The glue-up has developed a few hairline cracks, but rather than rip the whole thing apart and rebuild (ugh) I'm hoping to get away with just redoing the varnish and flowing it into the cracks a bit.

I don't know how finishing experts do their magic. Never, not once, have I gotten an even finish.

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After two weeks of this nonsense--huge dust control sheets, the kitchen being a disaster zone, wearing a respirator to enter the house for half the day... I am declaring defeat. This is as good as it's going to get. It is covered in bubbles and has a few visible lap marks, but it is at least watertight now.

I'll give it a month to cure and knock down the worst offenders with 1000-grit and a buffing wheel.

Next time I am either hiring a pro or setting up the shop vac with a HEPA filter, sealing off the entire room with plastic, and running a positive pressure enclosure.
@aphyr really nice work! well done.
@aphyr - Seeing the photos and those bubbles, mewonders if they're caused by air/gas/vapors coming up out of the wood. And, if so, was there something you missed doing, like some kind of sealing coat or whatever... #ImTotallyNotAnExpertHere
@Illudium_Q36 there are already several coats below the ones I started.
@aphyr I'm sorry that you get frustrated. But it's part of learning... I read that temperature and humidity are factors, also some brands of product can create the bubble. Don't give up. Just rest a little