Finishing grooves

[willadams]

I've just started making a bow case of red oak (which will go outdoors a lot) and will be floating the plywood top and bottom in ~1/8" grooves which I'll be finishing w/ gloss lacquer from a spray can.

Since I had to source replacement wood for some pieces the colour of them is off, so I've decided to ebonize it (w/ Higgins Fountain Pen India ink --- essentially lamp black (carbon) in water unless someone has a better solution).

Before that, I was planning on masking off the sides and spraying the grooves w/ lacquer --- now I'll have to mask, then ebonize, then spray, then sand the exposed edges after removing the masking tape, then when I finish I'll have to mind all these edges....

Is the extra moisture resistance worth the extra work? Or am I wrong in thinking this would help w/ making this more weather resistant at all?

William

[nailshooter41]

I am not sure what kind of bow case you are making. I have heard the bow front display cases referred to as "bow front cases", and bow front furniture described in a similar fashion. But I haven't seen anyone that took them outdoors.

it was case for bow and arrows, I would paint it.

So to try to help with the obvious question of matching, unless you are going to dye the oak (my first choice would be Behlen's Solar Lux) then the more opaque the colorant applied, the more you will disguise mismatched wood colors and appearance. Since I am not sure what you are making, my only comment would be that dyeing red oak with the Behlen's red mahogany will make it actually look like mahogany if you do it right.

More opaque colorants also give better UV resistance to the the wood. As far as taking the time to seal properly, red oak will move quite a bit due its porosity. So don't just think about "wateproofing" but think along the lines of stabilizing the wood better to keep your project in better from the standpoint of moving panels, opening and closing joints, etc. To me, anything that goes outside should be sealed.

Robert

[willadams]

It is:

I really want it to look at least somewhat natural.

Interesting. I'll have to keep that in mind as an option.

Thanks. Excellent points --- sounds like it's worth the effort for me to seal the grooves and the edges of the plywood top and bottom.

William

[nailshooter41]

I have never heard of or seen a plywood that wasn't meant to be sealed. Even the treated stuff is covered with paint or some kind of finish.

If you can see your way to paint, use oil based enamel. Latex will breathe a bit, and doesn't have the overall abrasion resistance a good oil based enamel will have since the case will be used for transport.

Robert