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[Eric Fuller]

OK, got a little tired of this latest puzzle box so I took a few days off and refaced my kitchen in curly maple.  So, this is part of why the update was late

[Canuck]

Man, that's some VERY nice cabinetwork!!!  Oh and I'll take any offcuts from that really 'curly maple' for some pens

[Eric Fuller]

You know, I thought about that as I was making them.   I definitely have some with nice curl saved for you.  Was not sure if you'd be interested in such a "common" wood.  I bet maple will turn like a dream though.

[Canuck]

Awesome!  I love turning maple, oddly enough I've never turned any 'Curly' maple, practically every other type, bird's eye, spalted, stabilized and dyed etc...by the way what kind of finish did you use on your kitchen cabinets?  It looks like it really made the 'curl' pop

[Eric Fuller]

Used two heavy coats of pre-cat semi-gloss lacquer.  No stain added.  The wood's just that curly!  I picked through about 200 boards to find 15 I liked.

[Canuck]

Nice, you picked the perfect wood for your cabinets, it's got some incredible curl!

[Scott Peterson]

Those are some sweet cabinets, Eric.  I like the clean lines too.  I kind of get tired of the old style raised cabinets - the modern style can be done well, and yours look great!

Personally, I like the way oil-based polyurethane makes Maple look.  On Bird's Eye maple - the oil-poly makes the eyes pop out beautifully, adding a warm slight-yellow cast.  Of course, it looks like lacquer does a very nice job too.

[Robert Yarger]

I also love the look of polyurehane on culry or birds eye, but for a kitchen that is usually very bright, the glare from it can be blinding unless it is a bit matte.  I will also mention that around the area of the stove, polyurethane is somewaht difficult to clean if it gets covered with grease.  Seems like it wants to bond to the oil from the stove. 

[Matthew Dawson]

Eric, I couldn't help but notice "Das Boot" on top of the refrigerator.    Were you inspired to get it after watching Beerfest or did you already have one?

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0486551/

[Eric Fuller]

Eric, I couldn't help but notice "Das Boot" on top of the refrigerator.    Were you inspired to get it after watching Beerfest or did you already have one?

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0486551/

Actually I lived in Holland for seven years growing up, and polished off many of those on Friday nights at Saint Jerome's in the Hague (which just closed sadly).  Couple friends of mine bought that for me when I visited a few years back.  Ahh...memories

On another note, I just picked up all the materials to do tiles on the wall behing the sink and stove.  Won't have time to do it until I get back from IPP, but I'm looking forward to it.  This home improvement stuff is a lot of fun...learning new skills...reminds me of when I first started making puzzles!

[Canuck]

I kind of get tired of the old style raised cabinets

Thanks Scott, that sentence pretty much spelled out my kitchen reno   Really though we've been thinking of going away from the traditional 'old style raised cabinets' which we currently have and go to the 'cleaner lines' like Eric's.  Our kitchen is only 6 years old but had a dated look pretty much from the time they were done   Thankfully our plans involve knocking out a wall so it's going to have to wait for till we have a good plan in place   Maybe we'll schedule it to coincide with our month long trip to the Bahamas that we're planning

[Eric Fuller]

haha, you guys give me way too much credit.  I did the "modern" (shaker style) cabinets b/c they were easy to do...no profile milling to mess with.  Plus I just like rectilinear stuff

Right now I'm tearing out drywall to install undercabinet lights and relocate the outlet boxes by the sink.  Tile will go up later.