Any woodworkers?

You could always use aircraft drill bits.

 

Prob too expensive an dont cut like a forstner bit

 

Spade bits have their purpose..

 

I could if i had to, but it would be super slow

 

Anyone have any experience with general finishes arm r seal?

 

yes..

 

I’ll be trying it for the first time this Thursday. I read their instructions but wanted to see if anyone has any advice.

 

That’s hackberry. Much softer than oak. The warty bark is telltale, as is the light creamy wood with black streaks.

 

...i can't speak to brushing it on, ..as i've only ever used cut-up t-shirts to apply it... i have found that, ...like most major finish manufacturers out there, the instructions on the can pertaining to "dry times" in between applications is horribly wrong... i've also found that this dry time increases as more coats are applied, ...to the point where if you are doing more than the "recommended" 3 coats, per the instructions, you really need to be giving it more than a day in between coats... i've also had a hard time with getting consistent sheen from the satin product, ...and the instructions insist you need to keep it stirred well (...kinda hard to do when you're pressed to get in on w/out streaking in the first place...) if i were to use arm-r-seal again, i'd probably try the gloss sheen because there would be less flattening agents in it to get screwed up by inadequate "stirring"...

...arm-r-seal seems to have a good reputation for quality, ..but my problem with it has been it's not been a pleasure to apply, especially if you want to build the film fairly thick, for say a table top... i've found other finishes like minwax wipe-on-poly to be easier to apply with good results...

 

Hack berry is soft... correct?

 

Yeah, softer and not as coarse as oak, but still an open grain wood (as opposed to closed grain woods like maple and cherry), which are technically referred to as ring porous and diffuse porous.

It naturally has dark streaking, but is also susceptible to rot, fungus, punkiness. Typically pretty bland, but occasionally you’ll find some nice rich browns and pinks in the darker grain.

 

Soft-ish.

It’s a hardwood, but is on the softer end. A bit softer than soft maples like red and silver. Softer than cherry. But considerably harder than poplar. For context, it’s about twice as hard as white pine.

 

Good point.

 

You can make your own wipe on Poly cheaply. Mix 50/50 poly and paint thinner. Sawmill Creek forum http://www.sawmillcreek.org/forum.php and http://lumberjocks.com/
are good sources of info.

 

I haven't posted in this thread before, but I'm working on a live edge table right now for our kitchen. It's a maple slab my friend milled. Router planed it last night, and I sanded it down to 50 grit tonight. Lots more sanding to do before some bowties and epoxy. Also have to weld and powder coat the legs.

Planing:
all flat:

Sanded (don't mind the customer's Jeep in the background...):

Hard to see how cool the grain looks in the pictures, but there's some funky spalting on the edges which makes it unique! Really excited to see it all come together!

The slab is just shy of 7' long, and averages around 33" wide and is 2" thick after the planing

 

Very cool. I am finally back to work on my Walnut live edge river coffee table. I will get in some more live edge walnut for the legs on Friday.

I pulled the top off my current oak coffee table and set the river edge on top. Not fixed but just so my wife could see it.

She loves it like that but I just couldn't mount it on oak.

 

Why can't you live closer???? I could use your handiness lol

 

Got the miter keys cut down and sanded. Had some corner tear out but I guess ok for the first attempt with miter keys. Drilled out the coin slot and test fit. Now to lacquer, send the top off to get the inside engraved. Then velvet line followed by glass and decanter support. Much more involved project then I originally intended!