Posted: 5/31/2024 2:33:06 PM EDT
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This is a 5" tongue and groove poplar I got at a local milling company. It went together well, but the beams took a little time due to the ripping required to make it all fit nice and tight. I've been recommended a "Hard Wax Oil" finish by some friends that do a lot of woodworking- one friend suggesting Rubio Monocoat, another suggesting Gilboys. I bought a 1/2 liter of Gilboys to try on some scraps. I went with it over the Rubio for 2 reasons- 1- It doesn't have a hardener, which makes me think it sets up quick without it, due to a lower oil content. I specifically avoided an oil based finish because I don't want the wood to yellow- a common result with oil finishes. 2- Price. (doesn't hurt) I rubbed a coat of the Gilboys on a scrap piece at lunch time. I'll post some pics of the progress later. But here's the wall! (ignore the unfinished fire place wall. Still waiting on my wife to pick out the stone.) Attached File |
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I'd suggest shellac. Comes in three basic shades of clear and can be tinted to give any color or shade you might want. It is inexpensive. It dries fast. Can be gloss or matte or anything in between, It is easily repaired. <-- even if you screw up putting it on, like a drip or uneven. Can be brushed, wiped or sprayed. Denatured alcohol is the solvent (very low toxicity & low VOC). P.S. - I like the door and door trim. |
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When I finished the wall and beams in the finished part of the basement, I had just enough extra wood to do a small wall in the unfinished part. No sense in just burning the scraps, right? So this has turned into my test wall. I put the Gilboys on it this morning. It's drying quick, no film, and not much odor. The scent reminds me of boiled linseed oil. It'll take two coats for certain, which is another benefit of the Rubio (they call it "monocoat"). Unfinished on the left, hard wax oil on the right. Attached File |
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Update on the basement project. I decided to go with unfinished on the poplar. I was afraid any type of finish was going to make the lightest of the figure turn a little yellow. But, cabinets are in. Counter is a Walnut live edge. Had enough "drop" from the slabs to make a mantle and a sofa table. Found a set of bar stools I love on Etsy of all places. Only thing left is to lay the stone at the fireplace and then argue with my wife over decorations. Attached File Attached File Attached File Attached File Attached File |
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Originally Posted By A_G: I know this thread is about the wall, but sorry OP that wall is nothing comparted to that bar top. Holy shit. The wall and beam do look good, but that bar top.  Thanks! I can't believe how great they turned out. A company in New Albany, IN did the walnut tops for us. They had an incredible warehouse full of slabs and we picked these out personally. Originally Posted By bansil: What type of brackets did you use or the floating shelves? The dark stained maple shelves have a french cleat type mount. The mantle is a "floating shelf bracket" from Sheppard Brackets. I was nervous drilling that deep into the slab, but the "single bore drill guide" they ship with the bracket worked great. I feel bad now though- it's been this many months and I still haven't done the stone on the fireplace..... wasted winter and I sure don't want to be inside when spring comes. |
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Originally Posted By masterlou: @ BPR where did you get the steel legs for the side table ? Everything looks great. Thank you! Flowyline Metal website. Amazon has all kinds of table legs too. Flip the table top upside down. Lay out the legs, attach with wood screws. |
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Pedantic forester mode ON It’s YELLOW-poplar, not Poplar. YP is actually a magnolia, and not a true poplar. Why is it important? Because words mean things, and things are important. Pedantic forester mode OFF That being said, I loves me some YP. It’s light, it’s strong, and it’s the hardwood that grows like a pine! Here a ginormous YP log a local logging crew cut from a construction site in Charlottesville. This thing is 26 feet long with a little end diameter of over 5 feet. Contained about 5600 board feet of lumber.  YP Log Side_ by FredMan, on Flickr YP Log Top_ by FredMan, on Flickr
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ProTip: Never pick a fight with a tree planter. He swings a hoedad for 9 hours a day, carries 30-40 pounds of seedlings on his back, and has 12-14 friends just like him hiding out on the other side of the junk butt pile. They will fuck your shit up.
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Originally Posted By FredMan: Pedantic forester mode ON It’s YELLOW-poplar, not Poplar. YP is actually a magnolia, and not a true poplar. Why is it important? Because words mean things, and things are important. Pedantic forester mode OFF That being said, I loves me some YP. It’s light, it’s strong, and it’s the hardwood that grows like a pine! Here a ginormous YP log a local logging crew cut from a construction site in Charlottesville. This thing is 26 feet long with a little end diameter of over 5 feet. Contained about 5600 board feet of lumber. https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52905140142_551b37151f_h.jpgYP Log Side_ by FredMan, on Flickr https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52906163843_f4cf32e4d4_h.jpgYP Log Top_ by FredMan, on Flickr Thanks for the education, Fred. Off to google other poplars. That is a massive log. I'm surprised logging equipment could even handle and load a log that size. Was the heartwood as dark as it appears in the end grain? |
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Originally Posted By BPR: Thanks for the education, Fred. Off to google other poplars. That is a massive log. I'm surprised logging equipment could even handle and load a log that size. Was the heartwood as dark as it appears in the end grain? |
01010111 | 57 | 127 | LXXXVII
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WOW! That's awesome, OP. Great work. Attached File |
"Want to bet a case of PMAGS on it?"
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Originally Posted By BPR: Thanks for the education, Fred. Off to google other poplars. That is a massive log. I'm surprised logging equipment could even handle and load a log that size. Was the heartwood as dark as it appears in the end grain? You don’t want other poplars. Suitable for toilet paper and low grade pallets. 
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ProTip: Never pick a fight with a tree planter. He swings a hoedad for 9 hours a day, carries 30-40 pounds of seedlings on his back, and has 12-14 friends just like him hiding out on the other side of the junk butt pile. They will fuck your shit up.
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Originally Posted By MongooseKY: I was wondering the same thing - that seems quite dark for YP. YP can have all kinds of coloring, from light tan to dark green to even purple streaks. The heartwood tends to browns and dark greens, but what we call “mineral stain” can lead to really cool purple colors. Check this out…  
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ProTip: Never pick a fight with a tree planter. He swings a hoedad for 9 hours a day, carries 30-40 pounds of seedlings on his back, and has 12-14 friends just like him hiding out on the other side of the junk butt pile. They will fuck your shit up.
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Originally Posted By BPR: Thanks for the education, Fred. Off to google other poplars. That is a massive log. I'm surprised logging equipment could even handle and load a log that size. Was the heartwood as dark as it appears in the end grain? I actually never saw it after is was sawn, but I imagine it was even darker. Aside from the size, the most amazing thing about that butt log is that it had exactly zero rot. It was solid wood from end to end, and that exceptionally unusual for logs of that size, of that species, here in Virginia. As for the felling, the company co-owner, who goes by the no-shit name of Binky, manually felled with I think a 60” Stihl chainsaw. Binky’s been doing this stuff about as long as I’ve been alive, and if he can’t cut it, it doesn’t need to be cut. He got called out to the site specifically for this one tree, because he’s known in the community, and the construction crew had no idea how to get this tree on the ground. So they started asking around and everybody said “call Binky ”. It also took them quite some time to find a mill that could handle that log. As a rule, log size is limited by the size of the metal detector at the infeed, because no mill owner is going to risk his umpty thousand dollar bandsaw headrig over a log that doesn’t fit (and every log feeding into the headrig goes through a metal detector. A 30 foot long 1/4” strip of high carbon Swedish steel likes to hand grenade when it hits metal). The detectors are generally either 30” or40”, and the big end of this log was about 91”. |
ProTip: Never pick a fight with a tree planter. He swings a hoedad for 9 hours a day, carries 30-40 pounds of seedlings on his back, and has 12-14 friends just like him hiding out on the other side of the junk butt pile. They will fuck your shit up.