Author Archives: Stephen

Texas Star Table Inlay

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My daughter wanted a Texas star table for Christmas. I had a round oak table that needed refinishing, so I decided to inlay the star while refinishing the table top. I started out by constructing a regular pentagon using a trammel point compass and a bit of basic geometry. After laying out the star I used my router and a straight edge to remove area inside down to a depth of 3/16 inches. The trick is to remove material along an edge and work across the star point to ensure the router base has a stable surface to ride on.

After finishing the routing I re-sawed basswood into 3/16 inch thick stock to create 10 half star points. These were sanded to fit inside lines drawn from the center to the points on the perimeter between the star legs.

After sanding the basswood pieces to fit within each star point and numbering their orientation, transtint dye was used to color them.

Next I mixed marine epoxy and placed it into the bottom of the routed star recess. The dyed basswood pieces were placed in their respective places and held in place with lead weights while the epoxy cured. Afterwards another batch of epoxy was mixed to fill the slight depression between the basswood inserts and the rest of the table top. This also filled in any gaps along the edges and between the star point sections.

After the last batch of the epoxy cured, and was sanded to remove the amine blush and make sure the surface was level, polyurethane was applied.

Here is the table top after 8 coats of polyurethane. I used a clear gloss polyurethane to reduce amount of yellowing produced by each successive coat. I used a satin polyurethane for the top two coats.

Restored Steamer Trunks

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My wife loves old steamer trunks. The problem with most of them is that they are in poor condition - after all they can be over 100 years old. Plenty of time for rot, damp, and mildew to take their toll.

My wife loves old steamer trunks. The problem with most of them is that they are in poor condition – after all they can be over 100 years old. Plenty of time for rot, damp, and mildew to take their toll.

Here is the interior of one of the trunks I restored. Too bad I don't have a photo of the inside with the moldy wallpaper attached. And the smell - phew! I used scraper to remove the old paper, then my orbital sander to remove the majority of the remaining nastiness. It is tough working in the corners, thank goodness for the Craftsman Nextec multitool! You can see the clenched nails used to put the trunks together in the photo. My wife wanted to use the trunks to store old quits in, so I needed to cover up the nails, make it smell good, and protect the contents. It chose the time tested solution of lining the trunk with cedar.

Here is the interior of one of the trunks I restored. Too bad I don’t have a photo of the inside with the moldy wallpaper attached. And the smell – phew!
I used a scraper to remove the old paper, then my orbital sander to remove the majority of the remaining nastiness. It is tough working in the corners, thank goodness for the Craftsman Nextec multitool! You can see the clenched nails used to put the trunks together in the photo.
My wife wanted to use the trunks to store old quits in, so I needed to cover up the nails, make it smell good, and protect the contents. It chose the time tested solution of lining the trunk with cedar.

This truck had a simple cylindrical lid. I was able to cut 3 inch wide pieces of western red cedar and plane them down to a thickness of 1/8 inch. This made them flexible enough to follow the curve of the existing wood in the lid. I applied yellow glue, and then used some creative clamping techniques to hold the new pieces against the old while the glue dried.

This truck had a simple cylindrical lid. I was able to cut 3 inch wide pieces of western red cedar and plane them down to a thickness of 1/8 inch. This made them flexible enough to follow the curve of the existing wood in the lid. I applied yellow glue, and then used some creative clamping techniques to hold the new pieces against the old while the glue dried.

Here you can see the inside of the lid with the cedar applied. I am an old canoe builder, so I am very familiar with using marine epoxy. I use it fill in missing knots, bond cracked wood and as a gap filler as required. If you look closely you can see some of my work in the bottom and sides of the trunk. Notice where I used duct tape as a dam to hold epoxy in place until it hardens.

Here you can see the inside of the lid with the cedar applied.
I am an old canoe builder, so I am very familiar with using marine epoxy. I use it fill in missing knots, bond cracked wood and as a gap filler as required. If you look closely you can see some of my work in the bottom and sides of the trunk. Notice where I used duct tape as a dam to hold epoxy in place until it hardens.

Here the finished product. I bought a pack of aromatic cedar used for lining closets at the Home Center. I provided me we enough cedar to line two different trunks. This stuff is thicker than the cedar I used in the top, so it does increase the trunk weight, but its not used as a suitcase anymore and does not get moved often. The aromatic cedar makes the trunk smell good and provides some protection against moths.

Here the finished product. I bought a pack of aromatic cedar used for lining closets at the Home Center. I provided me we enough cedar to line two different trunks. This stuff is thicker than the cedar I used in the top, so it does increase the trunk weight, but its not used as a suitcase anymore and does not get moved often. The aromatic cedar makes the trunk smell good and provides some protection against moths.

The other trunk I restored had a camel back lid. The center portion of the lid is higher than the sides. This made restoring the inside of the lid a little trickier (more like stripping a canoe hull). I used 1 inch nominal strips which had to taper down at each end. I could only glue 1 strip in at a time until the glue dried.

The other trunk I restored had a camel back lid. The center portion of the lid is higher than the sides. This made restoring the inside of the lid a little trickier (more like stripping a canoe hull). I used 1 inch nominal strips which had to taper down at each end. I could only glue 1 strip in at a time until the glue dried.

Here the inside of the lid is finished and the broken leather handles have been replaced. Compare the relative size of the lid end pieces and the brace in the middle and you can see the camel back shape.

Here the inside of the lid is finished and the broken leather handles have been replaced. Compare the relative size of the lid end pieces and the brace in the middle and you can see the camel back shape.