I Bought This Lazy Susan At A Yard Sale And....

[jdmidwest]

Last summer I picked up this lazy susan at a yard sale for the roller mechanism and my next fly bench. Yesterday at the farm, Dad and I whipped out our latest creation. At first we started chopping up a walnut limb into slices for new grips for my Colt Officers model. After playing around with that for a while, we proceeded to the fly bench. We had recently cut timber so we had a nice selection of native woods to work with, but the only dressed boards were 3/4" x 6" cedar with rough cut edges.

Our work shops at the farm are scattered all over so we got our exercise doing it. The radial and table saw in one building with the lumber, machine shop with drill press, and an old grain silo converted into a finishing workshop with a wood stove. We cut and sawed, shaved and squared, sanded and nailed several pieces of cedar, sassafras, and walnut into the finished product. The sassafras was the best to work with, the sweet smell as you worked the wood thru the saws filled the shop. Last night I drilled out the final holes and cut the doweling. It still needs finish sanding, routing out of the hook/bead holder, and final finish. I am still trying to decide on finish, tung oil or polyurethane. I want the natural colors of the individual woods to pop out. I really hate to seal any of it, the raw smell of the bench is great as it is.

Here is the project so far, the lazy susan part is in the upper left, a rotating spool holder.

[FishinCricket]

Hey, ya made me a present! You shouldn't have...

[jjtroutbum]

Nice! Think the finish sanding will allow you to choose the finish? I personally lean more towards oiled. Maybe that's a gun thing. Speaking of guns. Consider this a formal request for pics of the grips once they are finished and mounted.

[lee G.]

Use tung oil.

I used tung oil on a set of Jordan grips for a Smith of mine, turned out nice looking.

[Danoinark]

That's purty.

[eric1978]

I'd use a semi-gloss poly on it. The tung oil would definitely make the grain pop and pretty it up, but it's for tying flies. The poly would give you a harder surface and make it easier to clean up messes. I'd be afraid that the millions of fine fibers would have a tendancy to stick to the oily tung finish and create a grimy film.

[Chris Barclay]

That's REALLY NICE! I like it. Well laid out too.

I don't think you'll have a problem with tung oil and the small fibers as long as you allow it to cure. With a few coats it'll harden up like poly and it'll look nicer, I think.

[jdmidwest]

I think I am going to use the low gloss tung oil, it should do a nice job. Looking at some woodworking sites yesterday, most tung oil does not even contain tung, just a rub on varnish that results in an oil finish look. I have used tung oil on walnut stocks and there is no tackiness after it dries. I used brush and spray satin polyurethane on my last cedar gun rack and a couple of other projects, it usually results in a rougher finish.

[Chris Barclay]

How about some pics after the finish too?

[flytyer57]

I used brush and spray satin polyurethane on my last cedar gun rack and a couple of other projects, it usually results in a rougher finish.

The polyurethane will pull up the grain in the wood. You'll need to sand it smooth with 800 grit and put on a second and sometimes a 3rd coat.