Therapy, Pop Wood Style

I’m working on a small chest for the February 2007 “I Can Do That” column. Because it’s a primitive design, I wanted the piece to look as if it had been around the block a time a two.

So, after two coats of cherry-red paint, I knocked down the edges with some #100-grit sandpaper, trying to mimic the wear pattern of a century of use. Then, I wiped the piece with a dark mahogany gel stain, let it sit for a few minutes, then wiped it off. While the stain grabbed nicely on the freshly sanded edges and helped to tone down the paint to a more mellow hue, I wasn’t satisfied.

Now, in the back of my mind I knew what needed to be done. I needed a heavy chain, a couple handfuls of pebbles, a bag of nails…¦.anything which with to hit the chest to make dents and dings. But I couldn’t bring myself to “ruin” the piece I’d spent several hours making. Chris, on the other hand, had no such qualms. He walked right over, pulled out his ring chock-full of keys and started whaling away at the side. Then, he grabbed a Shinto rasp and used the handle to smack the edges around ,- and then he handed me his key ring. Well what the heck; it was already “ruined.” So I went to town.

After wiping on another coat of gel stain, I’m pleased with the results; the chest now looks appropriately aged. And it’s an effective, yet cheap, form of therapy.

All that was left to do was to add a coat of paste wax, and the hardware.

– Megan Fitzpatrick