Surprised how long it's lasted

11/24/20, 10:49 AM #1

David Yoho
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Registered: 1/5/04

Surprised how long it's lasted

David Yoho

This past weekend my wife picked up an old wash stand that needed some love. First job was to tighten it to stop the wobbles. Easy to do because of the way it was put together. Next was refreshing the finish and hiding some minor scratches.

I've never been a fan of the scratch cover products and prefer using dye or stain. I knew what color I wanted, so I open my finish cabinet to have a look at my choices. I also knew I wanted a dye rather than something with pigments. I spotted an old mayonnaise jar with some Trans Tint Golden Brown mix. I wiped some on and it was perfect. Followed that with some Howard's Wax and Feed and it's done.

The point of this is my surprise when I looked at the sticker on the jar where I wrote down the date I mixed it... 11/03. There's still about an inch and a half in the jar, no settlement at the bottom, and works like it was new. I even remember the project I originally mixed it for!

- - -

I live in Mechanicsville, VA (not far from Richmond) and I've been building furniture and cabinetry for well over 20 years now. It all started with my frustration of not being able to cut a straight line with a hand saw. About this same time, a guy named Norm appeared on my local PBS station. The more I watched, the more I learned. I also started thinking, "Hey, I can do that"! And so, I began with small projects and soon found myself moving up to increasingly advanced work. Word of mouth started the ball rolling and before I knew it, I was building all kinds of things for people. While this is not what I do to pay the bills, it has provided me with a means of equipping my shop over the years. The main downside to all of this is when my wife looks at a finished project and says, "I want one of those" and I know I don't have the time to make that happen right then. I take advantage of any slack time between commissions to work on things we want and this seems to keep her "on my side". She even surprised me one day with a new Tormek sharpening system. Sometimes it pays to leave that tool catalog lying around open! For me, woodworking is a type of therapy. I can go out to the shop and totally forget about the world outside. There have been days when I get out there early and before I know it, it's dark outside and I have no idea where the time went! I also enjoy challenging my skills and learning new things. Most of the time, since the majority of my work tends to be custom pieces, I'm working on projects I�ve never built before. While this takes me longer than if I were doing production work, I find it more appealing because there's always something new to learn. I haven't had any formal training in woodworking. My teachers have been experience, the many books and magazines I've read, WoodCentral, and of course, a guy named Norm.

Re: Surprised how long it's lasted

11/24/20, 2:02 PM #2

Henry (Raleigh NC)
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539 posts

Registered: 11/13/06

Re: Surprised how long ?

Henry (Raleigh NC)

David

If that were me, the surprise would be that I remembered the original use of that tint mixture!

Henry

Re: Surprised how long it's lasted

11/24/20, 3:33 PM #3

Ralph Lipeles
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Registered: 2/5/03
Location: Monroe, CT

Re: Surprised how long it's lasted

Ralph Lipeles

I still use walnut stain that I bought at Constantines, in the Bronx, NY, in the 50's.

Re: Surprised how long it's lasted

11/24/20, 4:19 PM #4

David Yoho
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2,135 posts

Registered: 1/5/04

Re: Surprised how long it's lasted

David Yoho

Wow, that's old. I remember them too. I guess what surprised me more was that the alcohol hadn't evaporated. I also have a number of Minwax stains I've had for years that are still good. I actually expect stains to fair better unlike varnishes and such, which can set up when air get to them.

- - -

I live in Mechanicsville, VA (not far from Richmond) and I've been building furniture and cabinetry for well over 20 years now. It all started with my frustration of not being able to cut a straight line with a hand saw. About this same time, a guy named Norm appeared on my local PBS station. The more I watched, the more I learned. I also started thinking, "Hey, I can do that"! And so, I began with small projects and soon found myself moving up to increasingly advanced work. Word of mouth started the ball rolling and before I knew it, I was building all kinds of things for people. While this is not what I do to pay the bills, it has provided me with a means of equipping my shop over the years. The main downside to all of this is when my wife looks at a finished project and says, "I want one of those" and I know I don't have the time to make that happen right then. I take advantage of any slack time between commissions to work on things we want and this seems to keep her "on my side". She even surprised me one day with a new Tormek sharpening system. Sometimes it pays to leave that tool catalog lying around open! For me, woodworking is a type of therapy. I can go out to the shop and totally forget about the world outside. There have been days when I get out there early and before I know it, it's dark outside and I have no idea where the time went! I also enjoy challenging my skills and learning new things. Most of the time, since the majority of my work tends to be custom pieces, I'm working on projects I�ve never built before. While this takes me longer than if I were doing production work, I find it more appealing because there's always something new to learn. I haven't had any formal training in woodworking. My teachers have been experience, the many books and magazines I've read, WoodCentral, and of course, a guy named Norm.

Re: Surprised how long it's lasted

11/25/20, 1:04 PM #5

Larry Clinton At Frankfort, (Central) Indiana
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Registered: 2/6/10

Re: Surprised how long it's lasted

Larry Clinton At Frankfort, (Central) Indiana

In Indiana there is a Covered Bridge festival in the southern part of the state. This was also a kind of yard sale for about 35 mile or so on every road near the bridges.

About 20 - 25 years ago my wife and I always made a full day traveling to yard sales! We stopped at one and there was a box full of 20-30 cans of various stains, some mixed, some sealed. I bought the box for pennies, and am still using the stains.

I have a set of oil bases artist pigment paints that I occasionally add to get a custom color.

I also have new Minwax stains. Other than having to work to get the pigment off the bottom and mix I can't tell the difference in the old and new. Sure some are at least 40 years old!.

- - -

I am 68 - be 69 in May 2010, have been retired about 4 years from Emerson Electric where I worked as a Engineer for about 40 years. Woodworking is my hobby, I refuse to do any woodworking for money as I am afraid it would become another job. I am very lucky to have a great woodworking shop. My son's and friends helped build it a couple years before I retired. It is a 30 X 30 shop with a 30 X 10 upstairs storage room, heated and air conditioned. I saved and purchased much of my equipment before I retired. I am busier now than when I worked, but seem to get little done :~>. I helped my son remodel his home, made all the woodwork from rough white oak, finished the vanity (from locust), lower kitchen cabinets (cherry) built cedar lined oak chest for my DIL, built a bathroom for my best friend and in process of building storage cabinets for SWMBO.

Surprised how long it's lasted

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