Tip of the Day:Stain Boards

One of the biggest problems that I face when I am making a project for someone else is picking a color for the stain. Most of the time people just say that they want it oak or cherry which we all know if about as generic an answer as you can get. So when I got to the finishing stage for a recent bookcase I came up with the idea of creating a stain board to show the customer. This worked out well as I was able to show what the stain would look like from one coat to five coats.

The process that I used for this board was very simple. I put one coast on and let it dry at which point I put a piece of tape across the board. I put a second coat of stain on the left side of the piece of tape. I did the same steps over until I reached 5 different stages on staining.

Stain and Finish Storage Completed

I just finished my latest project and had some time to complete my stain and finish storage I wrote about in a previous post. The problem that presented itself was a lack of storage for my pint and quart sized cans. Due to my shop size I got rid of one big shelving unit for a smaller one and did not have shelf space for these cans. So I came up with a simple alternative solution for this problem. I had some leftover 2x4's lying around my shop that were on there way to the burning pit when I realized I could use them for shelves between the studs in my wall. After a few cuts a couple of screws problem solved. This storage solution not only got the cans out of the way but it was practically free since the material used was going to get burned this weekend. Below are a few photos of the finished project.