Project DIYModern Farmhouse Furniture Ep 3

Modern Farmhouse Furniture Ep 3 Step by step

• STEP: 1

  We are now in episode 3 of the church pew resotation and revival. In case you missed our previous episodes, we went over how to properly use a chemical stripper as well as surface preparation. So, all your hard work has paid off; we are now in the third and final part of our project, which is FINISHING!

  
• STEP: 2

  First things first, make sure to wear your personal protective equipment. The chemicals that we're dealing with are highly toxic.

  
• STEP: 3

  Secondly, we're gonna be applying the same concept we did in the previous episodes and we're going to be working in sections. That means we're going to start with the back and we're gonna move on to the front.

  
• STEP: 4

  Make sure to use your tack cloth to free your surface of any dust, and we're gonna be ready to stain.

  
• STEP: 5

  Always apply dye stain quickly

  
• STEP: 6

  Wipe off and blend as you go. A polishing motion works best.

  
• STEP: 7

  Let it dry for a complete 24 hours, and now you're able to move on to the next step in the process which is sealcoating. Traditionally this is done with a shellac washcoat, but we need something a bit more durable because this is going to get a lot of action. We're going to use a product from ML Campbell called Klearvar and it's a three-part conversion varnish.

  
• STEP: 8

  The varnish needs to be applied light and thin, so we will be using 320 scuff pads afterwards and we don't want to bleed through our stain.

  
• STEP: 9

  Cross hatch during application. This will ensure full coverage.

  
• STEP: 10

  Let it cure for a full two hours.

  
• STEP: 11

  Tack off the surface before sanding.

  
• STEP: 12

  Use a felt block and Gator 320 grit sandpaper and light pressure to lightly scuff, being careful not to burn through the finish.

  
• STEP: 13

  Now that we're done with sealcoating, and done with scuffing, we're able to move on to grain filling. We do this for two different reasons: first is function. We're going to go ahead and fill in all of these pores and it's going to become a very smooth finish, but the second reason and why we're really doing it on this project is for decorative purposes. All of the open grain is going to be filled in with grain filler, which will look remarkable after top coating.

  
• STEP: 14

  Go ahead and mix your grain filler. It should have the consistency of pudding. Don't worry about working in sections, because we will be scuffing the entire surface at the end, and you will not see any separations.

  
• STEP: 15

  Give it a generous application. You don't necessarily have to go with the grain. Swirl it around a bit to ensure even coverage and that it gets in all the open spaces.

  
• STEP: 16

  Once you reach a half-way point, go ahead and walk away and wait about 15 minutes. The black surface will begin to form a milky film on the surface, and that is when you know it is ready to scrape off.

  
• STEP: 17

  Come in at a diagonal angle, remove the bulk of the grain filler, and repeat until you're done with the surface.

  
• STEP: 18

  Now that we've come to this point, we will get our burlap pad, and we will do a polishing motion. You will see a difference in the grain-filled, and the not grain-filled. Keep doing that polishing motion to reveal a gorgeous finish and a beautiful difference!

  
• STEP: 19

  Now we've let the church pew cure for a good 24 hours. Now we move on to another step in our process which is scuffing. What we will try to do with our extra fine scuff pads, is make the surface look uniform. There may be some areas where it looks filmy, and others it looks smoother. We want a uniform consistence.

  
• STEP: 20

  Make sure to tack off when you've completed scuffing, and then you will be ready to move on to the final stage, which is top coating, which will glorify all of the hard work you have put into your project.

  
• STEP: 21

  Spray top coat with your sprayer about 8 to 10 inches away from the surface, spraying once again in a cross hatch pattern, being sure to cover the surface evenly.

  
• STEP: 22

  Scuff lightly with the extra fine scuff pads to get rid of any imperfections.

  
• STEP: 23

  After three days of curing and drying, we have now finalized our church pew! If you remember, we found this in an old garage and it was dusty, in bad shape, needed repairs, in desperate need of restoration. So, we got it back to the shop and got it through the beginning stages. If you can remember, I showed you how to properly use a chemical stripper to remove an existing finish, we moved right along into surface preparation and how to properly sand, also did a pencil trick that may have been helpful to you as well, and then we moved to the finishing part which was exciting! We got to add some color, used a proper dye stain, how to apply that, right on into the seal coating and grain filling if you hadn't done that before. It's a beautiful accent to any project you wanna do. It's a really involved project with lots of information, so if you have any questions, please feel free to drop me a line or comment.