Stratton Bed – Part 5

Well, there was a lot of painting this weekend, but I am almost nearly finished the Stratton Bed project I started in the middle of November.  This project has really sucked up the paint.

As I finished up the 4th coat of paint in the boxes and the third coat on the tops I have definitely learned a couple things.  First, I hate to paint, because I strive for perfection.

Second, two coats of primer is a must to prevent and grain or knots from showing through the top coat of paint.   I tired to limit knots in the trim to less conspicuous places, but even with this shade of red, I can still pick them up.

Third, I need to mask off where the tops and the carcasses meet and then do a final coat of paint once the boxes are assembled.  The little bit of over roll that I got on some of the parts seems to have tweaked the perfect fit of my face trim where the two pieces of trim come together.  I started out looking to shave some of this overspray with a chisel and utility knife only to find out that despite all the paint removal I tried, the fit was still not as awesome as I would have liked.

Fourth, this project would have been finished faster with drawers, or at least that’s what I am going to tell myself.

With any luck I will put the last coat of paint on the trim of the now assembled boxes this week.  Once dried the wife and I will lug them upstairs, and I will assemble the three boxes into the bed, throw the mattress on it and call this project complete.  Then on to the backlog of other woodworking projects…