My Love Affair - wood, customers, stain and all things creative.

Rockling 

I have quite a few customers that comment that they can tell how much I love my job.  I guess my face glows when they meet me or they can hear it over the phone.  I am not sure how they can tell. I love to build.  I love to be creative and the best ego boost that anyone can have is the head nod, look of amazement and the inflection of awe in my customers voices when I show them a technique right in front of them.

Tigerwood finish

I especially like it when a customer brings in a sample of something that I have to match that is not a normal color (veneer) and right then and there I do up a sample that is very close.  Sometimes the customers look scared when I pull out weird colors (a beige for example when I am trying to match something that is an olive green).  I have worked with stains for so long, I know how they behave when mixed or smudged with each other.

Reclaimed barnwood finish

Driftwood Finish

I also have to say that some of my customers trust me enough to allow me 100% creative freedom. They give me an idea of a color they are wanting and a style and as one customer put it "Do your magic and surprise me!".   I love those customers.  It's almost like a grab bag, Backwood Beds style.  They know they are getting  bed, but they trust me enough to design it and color it as I see fit.  I ask about heights, dimensions, rustic or modern etc - get those and then I have a long think on what it will be.  Then I sketch, build and do the finish.  Sometimes these beds are so good, they become part of our line.  (Mondo, Olympian & Shire)

Crown

Crown

I have designed a simple little platform bed that utilizes welded  hairpin type legs at the foot.  Since we purchase all of our material locally, we found a gentleman that welds them for us.  The result of the bed are amazing.  We have not launched the design officially on our site, but did post it to instagram.   So far - the feedback and the few orders are a sign that the bed will do very well in our line. One of my older customers helped to name it - the Crown. 

 I have also designed a bed specially for kids - I haven't built the prototype yet - but I know that this bed is going to be a huge hit.  Let just say when you see it, you will know someone (if not yourself) that will want it.  Adult or child, it will be as cute as can be.  As well as 100% Eco-friendly.  This is the bed that I am going to use my home-made milk paints with.

All in all, no matter how many hours I put in, at home on the PC or at the shop and the fact that I rarely have any down time.  I love what I do.  I don't look it as work and even in the evenings while home with the family - I am always researching or thinking of something that I could do, want to do or at least try.  I have heard "Turn it off" quite a few times from my kids and husband. They are asking me to turn off my design switch.  It really is not that easy.  Sometimes I wish I could turn it off so I could just be.  I have a hard time with staying idle and just being.  Yeh, no, I can't do that.

Mondo

Please note that I only use new wood.  I don't use reclaimed wood on anything.  I make it look that way.  All of my techniques are a multi-step process using, stain, paint, waxes and different odd tools to get these looks.

My Mallet - aka - Bone Crusher

One of my favorite tools in my shop is also one of my most hated.  My mallet.  I use it for so many things, it's the most versatile hand tool I have.  I'm talking hand tools here.  The mallet serves as a hammer, a mallet (duh!), a plugger hammering in thing-a-jigger, a weapon of mass destruction, a gavel while arguing with my help (my kids) and I even use it for stretching the shoulders and upper back.  In fact, scary thought - I have been known to accidentally put it in my purse and carry it around with me (unknowing of course).

Right Foot broken toes

left foot broken toe

I have two mallets.  One is shinny and new and never ever used and there is the "Bone Crusher" or as I refer to it as the "Toe Smasher".  It has earned this name in July of 2013 when i accidentally dropped it on my big toe on my right foot.  I broke my toe.  Then in August of the same year, I did the same thing to my left foots big toe.  That one broke too.  Have you ever had a broken toe? Other than taping it to it's neighbor there is nothing that can be done.  You hobble along and go on with your business.  Thankfully I broke the phalanges and not the knuckles of them both - so the hobbling was at best a cute shuffle.  The worst part of it all was not being able to get a pedicure because of the healing.  I had to keep them as straight as possible.

Broken Thumb

Broken thumb

Then on December 23rd during the Christmas rush of getting all the bunk beds ready for deliveries for Christmas Eve I smashed my left thumb.  What a royal job I did too.  I was separating a top bunk from a bottom bunk - because I build them tight, I had to use the mallet to get that extra umph.  Sledging away I was beating the block and wham, full force right on my thumb.  Looking back it may have been better to use a clamp to keep the block there, lesson learned.  But for that time after working a 9 hour shift already, I didn't have that hindsight.  I threw the mallet across the room, my face and thumb felt like it was going to explode, I drooled, I couldn't breath - it hurt so bad. Then the breath came, and I cried and screamed like a girl.  I am a girl so I will not apologize for that.  After 10 minutes of sniffling and realizing my thumb was indeed broken and numb.  I put some duct tape on it and finished the bed i was working on and another one.  I finally went to bed 5 hours later.

The next morning however, my thumb was obviously swollen, very hot and the pressure I felt was unreal.  I felt as if the skin was going to tear at any moment.  I was hoping that binding it would work, but I knew I needed to have it drained.  So unlike my toes, I had no choice but to visit the ER.  They burred an nice hole in the nail and let it drain.  That day's work went so smoothly because the entire thing was actually numb and I couldn't feel anything.  Just a little medical tape on the knuckle to prevent it from bending and I was good to go.

3 months healed

Again, in hindsight I really should have gone to the orthopedic.  Here it is in March (3 full months later) and although all is healed per say, I still have no feeling in the tip of my thumb.  I still can't press my truck's key fob buttons with that thumb.  When I do, I can't feel my thumb tip on the button, but this shooting pain goes from just under the nail to the base of the knuckle when I press. So I have some damage there somewhere.  But it is usable and I have no issues in using the pad of the thumb for anything.

Since I'm a firm believer in rubbing dirt in the "owies" anyway or repairing a good cut with super glue (Do not use gorilla glue - you will have a little bump in there forever) I am happy with the outcome.  One thing I am really happy with though, having broken both my big toes, I now have to routinely go in for pedicures to help with the nails growing properly.  Ahem..I'll take that punishment any day! I gave up on having nice finger nails a long time ago, but I love pretty toes.

What is good for my night stand is good for my heels! - Wait, what?

Making my Paste-wax

The finish you have on your wood furniture is important.  If it wasn't important there wouldn't be codes, protocols and such that all manufacturers have to abide by. With all this being said, many companies go for the quick "good" look over the withstanding time "good" look.

Polyurethane is a favorite among wood workers.  It seals, protects and has a nice sheen.  But it stinks - you need scuba gear to slap it on.  Polycrylic, the water-based version of Polyurethane it is the same thing only it's water-based and easier to clean up if you spill it.  But it still stinks and that stuff stings my eyes when I use it.  But in all fairness - it does put a nice hard-shell protective coat over the wood.  If you can stomach it, I do recommend any of the poly's for your Kitchen table only.  Why?  Because that conference table, judges desk, home-work center, flat top vet office, makeshift butcher block, family epi-center and grocery inventory collection bin is the one piece of furniture in your house that is used more than your toilet.  Think about that.  How many times a day do you wipe your kitchen table down and clean it, scrubbing it if you have little kids.  Yes you want something that can withstand that amount of torture on a daily basis - even then, over time it will have to be stripped and re-coated before the wood is ruined.

Ripped from Getty / Images of babies chewing on cribs Bing Search. 

Now on to other wooden pieces of furniture in your home.  Your bed, end tables, coffee table, nightstands, dressers etc.  Do they receive the same amount of abuse as your kitchen table?  I didn't think so - so why put a known cancer causing chemical on them to protect them.   Granted once all things bad are dry (except lead paint, lead is bad), they are no longer harmful hence the reason why the government has strict protocols on finishes for cribs and toddler beds - those little booger factories, tend to chew on everything.  Yes even the cutest little 15 month old will try and gnaw their way out of the crib.  They are like hamsters - chew, run, chew, eat, sleep.

But the cute little hamsters are not the reason why I use a non-toxic home made wax on my furniture.  I use it for three main reasons -

1. Using it saves my lungs while applying it (on this note it does not stink, so there is no "gassing" out for my customers - it is made of natural ingredients)  
2. Saves the planet just a little - as I am throwing away my wash clothes that have the paste wax on it  (back to the natural ingredients) 
3. It is hypo-allergenic and really does feel just as good if not better than the commercial brands that are riddled with chemicals.   (hypo-allergenic because I can make it out of any oils) 

Cooled down and hardened 

The paste wax I use, is made of your standard cooking oils in different variations, blends and measurements and beeswax.  That's it.  Nothing else.  The process that I use, the oil and wax dries completely and seals in the wood.  The oils are penetrated into the wood, the wax protects the wood and the feel of it - is well, heavenly.  Smooth, buttery, not greasy, shinny (or not so shinny depending on your elbow grease) - I love my paste wax.   I use my paste wax on my heels, my elbows, my lips and my hands - and it works wonders there too.  I  have not and will not cook with it, because frankly the idea of a waxy meal is not my thing.  But I bet it would coat some pretty gnarly food for a Halloween display.

Queen Hugger with my paste wax
for a natural finish. 

Sexy Heels

My paste-wax does withstand the occasional scrubbing, cleaning and spill.  It is even good for those pesky cold sweaty soda can's left on the wood now and then. Like all wood furniture, it has to be cared for - mild soap and water works the best and stay away from other chemicals that add a wax to the cleaning power.  I always recommend diluted Murphy's Oil soap or just a 1:10 ration of baby shampoo or wash and water - damp your rag and wipe down. The best thing about my paste-wax, it's non-toxic, Eco-Friendly, Green, and better for everyone; my customers, their kids and pets, the planet and myself.

paste wax, woodworking, wood finish, stain, pledge, murphys oil soap, how to clean wood, polyurethane, polycrylic, chemicals, green, eco-friendly, non toxic, kids furniture, all natural, concerned moms, allergies, gassing, staining wood, wood sealers,