media stand part 4: paint and stain

So there was a preview of this step in the table saw post, but things are starting to come together with the media stand and it's about time to start working on the finish.

With most of the individual pieces together, I thought I would try to stain/paint them individually before assembling them into a completed stand. I wanted to avoid any difficulties around the joints by having everything a uniform color before putting it together.

At least the pieces still fit on the bench and I'm not stooping all day.

Worked well enough with the middle shelf. Doing that and the inside shelves separately meant they looked pretty good put back together. I did see some sanding patterns from using the hand sander that I'll need to clean up before I stain the outside, but I had to wait on that while I finished the dowel joints keeping the shelf to the sides.

Boy I wish I knew what I was doing sometimes.

 

While I waited, I got a quick coat of the metallic paint I'll be using for the bottom on some brackets I had picked up just in case. That way they'll blend in better than they would as plain silver. The T's will be on the back anyway but hopefully this means I'll be able to walk by and never notice them.

Painting the bottom was a little rougher. It's a big enough part that I didn't want to spray paint at night with the garage door closed, but also big enough that one can isn't quite getting me the coverage I was looking for, so right now it's waiting until I get another can. It'll get done. Eventually.Thankfully, I'm happy with the finish thus far and at least putting stain on didn't make any mistakes more visible. Maybe this will come together after all.