site banner
PaperclipPerfector  3mo ago (text post)   2584 thread views

Friday Fun Thread for August 9, 2024

Be advised: this thread is not for serious in-depth discussion of weighty topics (we have a link for that), this thread is not for anything Culture War related. This thread is for Fun. You got jokes? Share 'em. You got silly questions? Ask 'em.

3
Top Bottom Old Controversial Comments
Jump in the discussion.

No email address required.

Thanks.

One thing I keep wondering about is how much I should really put some elbow grease into it when I'm doing the final rub with 0000 steel wool and furniture wax. I did notice the more aggressive I got, the more I got it to a glasslike smoothness. But it would be straight up warm from the friction when I was done, and I was worried about how much finish I might actually be rubbing off with all the effort, so I ultimately erred on the side of being more conservative. Maybe I'll experiment a bit more with my approach as I work on the chairs since I just care about them less.

It's annoyingly inconsistent I think. I've had great results with really working hard as you described. And then sometimes for no seeming discernable reason the same thing seems to take some of the finish off. I'm sure there was something I did wrong, as I am not an expert by any means.

Your work looks really, really good, so I think you can definitely be proud of that!

I know when I did mine and polished to a glass finish, my steel wool pad was already pretty gummed up and dull from the wax. I have raw dogged with steel wool and gone through the shellac in a flash. I was actually just reviewing a Paul Sellers video where he's doing a shellac finish with wax, and he just barely touches it with a dry 0000 steel wool pad, and then comes after with the wax. Never hurts to keep trying different techniques though.

Why shellac instead of an oil?

I like the look and feel of shellac over oil. I also don't like how long it takes an oil to stop off gassing.

Probably because it's a lot more fun to say.

What is this place?

This website is a place for people who want to move past shady thinking and test their ideas in a court of people who don't all share the same biases. Our goal is to optimize for light, not heat; this is a group effort, and all commentators are asked to do their part.

The weekly Culture War threads host the most controversial topics and are the most visible aspect of The Motte. However, many other topics are appropriate here. We encourage people to post anything related to science, politics, or philosophy; if in doubt, post!

Check out The Vault for an archive of old quality posts. You are encouraged to crosspost these elsewhere.


Why are you called The Motte?

A motte is a stone keep on a raised earthwork common in early medieval fortifications. More pertinently, it's an element in a rhetorical move called a "Motte-and-Bailey", originally identified by philosopher Nicholas Shackel. It describes the tendency in discourse for people to move from a controversial but high value claim to a defensible but less exciting one upon any resistance to the former. He likens this to the medieval fortification, where a desirable land (the bailey) is abandoned when in danger for the more easily defended motte. In Shackel's words, "The Motte represents the defensible but undesired propositions to which one retreats when hard pressed."

On The Motte, always attempt to remain inside your defensible territory, even if you are not being pressed.


New post guidelines

If you're posting something that isn't related to the culture war, we encourage you to post a thread for it. A submission statement is highly appreciated, but isn't necessary for text posts or links to largely-text posts such as blogs or news articles; if we're unsure of the value of your post, we might remove it until you add a submission statement. A submission statement is required for non-text sources (videos, podcasts, images).

Culture war posts go in the culture war thread; all links must either include a submission statement or significant commentary. Bare links without those will be removed.

If in doubt, please post it!


Rules


Recommended Posts And Communities

Recommended Realtime Chats