54
FINISHING THE BOX
There are lots of ways to apply a beautiful, durable finish to a solid wood box. Following is how we
finish our cabinets here at the Lab. You may finish your Percolator any way you like. Please send us
photos of your completed project for our gallery!
Your cabinet is made of top-grade solid poplar. This is a dense, very finely grained softwood. It is
harder, more stable and more durable than pine. It is the wood of choice for all fine millwork that is
destined to be painted, but properly prepared it stains nicely too.
1. Do not sand the interior of the cabinet at all. Sand the whole exterior twice, using 120 and 220
grit sandpapers.
a. If you routed a detail, carefully sand out any burn marks, and be careful you do not obliterate
your detail with the orbital sander.
b. “Ease” the square edges; that is, strike off the sharp square edge the mill applied to the wood.
Your finish ingredients cannot accumulate on a sharp edge. Don’t use the orbital for this, at
least not for the inside edges; sand the square edges by hand only.
166
Be thorough! The better job you do here will strongly influence how nicely your stain turns
out.
167
2. Remove the dust: blast it with compressed air, draw it off with a vacuum, or wipe with a clean rag.
165
166
167