Armoire – Painted & Stained Alder
With the stringer glued and sized, it was time to bring the legs, stringer, and top of the base together. We accomplished this by using a 1.25″ diameter oak closet rod as a dowel and drilling holes in the pieces to accept the dowel. The dowel that connects the feet, stringer, and legs actually passes completely through the stringer, thus making the lower connection as rock solid as possible.
With the final sanding completed, we stained the entire base almost pitch black. We used a thinned-out black stain concentrate and just brushed it on and wiped it off.
The beauty of using a thinned-out black stain, as opposed to a black paint, is that the stain, while darkening the wood, still allows the wood grain to show through, and gives the color some variety by staining darker or lighter, depending on the wood surface.
A shot at the final base, after the varnish had been applied.
The final armoire installed in the clients house, complete with handles and strap hinges!
