KPL Creations: November 2017

The better half mentioned that there are way too many different colors in the garage/shop and it is making things look very busy and not as organized as it could.

She took a girls weekend and I started in on the typical "I'll fix THAT" mode. Found an OLD can of stain that barely gave up it's lid and I figured I had one chance at turning things black.

I like black, it's well, black, and you can't complain about the ole #3. And I sure as heck wasn't going to try to duplicate Gordon's Rainbow Warriors Paint Job. The better half wouldn't come home again.

But I digress... I "stained" the new miter saw station and unfortunately still had stain left and went looking for other places to waste the stain.

I saw the Incra TS-LS extension wing that is white. WHITE? Really? Come on... So we have the Sawstop ( Black, Red accents ), Incra TS-LS ( Gold rails, Red accents ), Extension ( White, gold accents ), and Incra Dust Sweep ( White and Red Accent ).

You know when you have that little person screaming at you inside your head, and you don't listen, things typically go sideways quickly. Yea, well, I didn't listen and I ended up with a mess.

This is Art Right?

"I just wanted to drain the swamp" was quoted to me a bit into this.

Let's just say that I learned a LOT about painting Melamine.

Things NOT to do:
* Stain ( It stuck fine, but had brush strokes and was flat ).
* Leave the heater running which kicks up dust.
* Only wait the minimum time to sand.
* Expect Gloss Black to hide ANYTHING.
* Ask the folks at the Big Orange store.
* Try to roll on Alkad Hybrid Paint.

Things to do:
* Sand the Melamine to at least 320 to ruff it up. 800grit will give you a really nice smooth finish.
* Wipe down really well
* Use a Tac Cloth and get everything off the surface.
* Turn off any air moving devices ( Heater, Air Filter, etc ).
* Use Krylon Fusion Spray Paint.
* Put down a light coat.
* Wait about 45-60sec and put down a heavier coat.
* Do another coat 90deg to the first but don't get it too heavy especially if there are vertical surfaces.
* Walk away slowly, don't look back, don't breathe on it, and don't make angry faces at it either whatever you do.
* Wait about 25min ( Depending on temp and humidity ) and put down another good coat.

Rolled on the Orange store's recommendation. FAIL.

You realize how tough melamine is when you can sand and sand on it and it still stays nice. Back to white.

Looks pretty good until you get close and see all the dust and junk in it.

Finally got it to the point I'm 90% happy.

Maybe Incra could just offer a black version???

Finishing touches might just be a big ole #3 in the middle!

We purchased a really nice outdoor patio set ( Ipe ) this year with the knowledge that we would have to do routine cleaning and maintenance.

Unfortunately the sales person, who seemed like he was knowledgeable, sold us some sealer and said we should sand the top before applying the sealer and it would keep the beautiful color.

We did one round of sanding/sealing and realized immediately the sales guy was wrong. The oil ended up coming out and it sped up the graying affect.

The sealer, as it turns out, is to go on after the oil and keeps the wood from getting water spots, rings, etc.

The Ipe oil needs a good 24/48hr to dry with no rain so trying to find a time to re-sand and oil the furniture while keeping it dry remained a problem the rest of the season. Finally, after cleaning out a lot of other projects in the garage, we moved the table into the garage and I started sanding.

Here are some before, during, and after pics. Some of the pieces of the table are just gorgeous.