American white ash cabinets

[nicklm]

Hi,

this is my first ever woodwork project, ( other than structural stuff in the house) so please be NICE. Aquired to large gun lockers and wanted to fit them in my sitting room to keep she who must be obeyed happy (didnt want then in the bedroom).
So compramise was to build cabinets to go round them to cover them up. I designed an built these to match the existing side board. Pleased with the results so far, just need to know whats best to fisih them with, they need to be a fairly dark/redish brown to match.

The cabs were made on router table, 10" chop saw and handtools.

The false door assembly on the front hasnt had hinges fitted yet or the false handle at the bottom as i havent decided which side its going.

So any tips for finishing gretaly appreciated.

regards

nick

 

[yetloh]

Welcome to the forum. Looks like a nice crisp job to me.

If they are not going to get a lot of wear, shellac is probably the easiest and quickest, yiu can put it on with cloth or a brush, I always use a cloth because several thin coats are better than one thick one. It dries very fast and is easy to cut back. It can also be burnished to whatever level of shine you want.

Plain of polyurethane varnish is also good. Here again, you will get better results with thin coats applied with a cloth - dilute it with about 40% white spirit .

Lastly, you can use a water borne finish but these give rather a cold look and do obscure some of the wood's natural lustre.

Jim