My raw cypress mantle has been in the shop class for awhile, being planed down, sanded, and drilled by the instructor and his students.
From a raw 9 foot long, 6 inch thick beam, it has become a svelte, 8 foot long, 4 inch thick smooth mantle.
Unfortunately, the students saw the worm holes and cracks in the cypress as flaws, so they filled them in with wood putty.
Sunday, I got out some of my diamond coated carving tools and spent considerable time removing the putty to expose the true, flawed character of the wood.
After the putty was removed, I slapped on a dust mask, fired up the dust removal device, and sanded for a few hours ... all under constant supervision by the porch pooches.
After a good rubdown with a microfiber tacky cloth, the mantle got a light coat of Ipswich Pine stain and now it fairly glows with anticipation of the poly coating to come.
5 comments:
The youth of today no very little about the look of character
That's just like our culture. Take something old and beautiful and make it new and spotless. Too bad you had to spend all that time undoing what they had done, but I am sure you will enjoy the mantel much more in its "flawed, but glowing" state.
You have tons of patients and good heart.
Smilin B,
Wait til they get a few flaws!
:)
Cathy S,
Man is it pretty ... and heavy!
Chrisy,
Thanks! I like working with wood, so it's not so bad.
Welcome to Pure Florida!
That's pretty funny. It says something that they don't know about pecky cypress.
I didn't realize how little you see it nowadays until I ate at a little restaurant in Chiefland that was paneled in pecky cypress.
And I never see those cypress clocks anymore either.
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