I am a hobbyist metal worker and I primarily build garden items like bells. I am attempting to make a base/stand for my most recent project out a piece of mountain alder I cut a month or so ago. It is 8′ tall and at its thickest has a 3″ diameter, thinnest 2″. After cutting it, I stripped the bark off to bare wood. Knowing that wood takes a long time to dry, and that I have a completion target date of May 25th (for a showing) I cut a grove along the length of the piece apx 1/2″ deep and 1/8″ wide to speed up the drying process. I dried the piece in a 70 degree room (my bedroom), from the rapid drying it split, exactly as I intended, along the cut, which is now aprx 1/4″ wide. I have sanded the entire piece progressing from 80-120-150-180-220 and am now ready to start finishing. I plan on selling this piece with exterior use in mind in a wet/marine environment. After testing a few pieces I have settled on using Verathane oil based Golden Mahogany wood stain. I plan on using a wood conditioner to reduce blotching as it is a soft wood. Here are my primary questions:
1. When/how to I attempt to fill the split I cut for drying (I am aware that it will always be evident, just looking for experienced recomendations to tackle this)
2. After staining the wood, how do I finish it to achieve a high gloss/polish for exterior use? (I believe laquer is my best option but see challenges…)
3. Reviews/opinions of Spray Can products/finishes
Challenges: I only have two weeks to finish this project, I live in a wet/marine environment where I can expect the temperature to fluctuate betwen 35-55 with a a dew point depression being around 8 degrees at its driest. I have no spray (compressor /spray gun) equipment and do not want to purchase it.
Any advice out there? Pictures to follow if I can find a camera…
Replies
Lacquer won't be an acceptable outdoor finish--it's moisture resistance is pretty low, and it also is best applied by spray. Yes, wood does take a long time to dry, and won't be dry by May 25th, perhaps May 25, 2012. But, since it is to go in a wet environment having it really dry first won't be of much benefit. You will likely have gotten a dry enough surface to accept finish, though it may be close.
I think your best finish option is a marine spar varnish, but you will have to find a place that is warmer than 50°, and that stays above that for overnight. (I assume this is Farenheit) to get reasonably quick drying. A quality varnish is important. Choose among Epifanes Clear Gloss, Interlux Schooner, or Pettit Captain's. The stuff sold at big box stores doesn't count, even with nautical sounding names. Also make sure that the ground end is saturated with epoxy.
The problem with this schedule is that outdoor finishes require maintenance. If it gets much sun, then it will need to have a refresher coat of varnish applied about every year--two in northern latitudes Dings or scrapes should be touched up quickly.. If not maintained it would look much worse than if it had not been finished at all. The purchaser will be buying a maintenance job.
Since you have the whole tree. you should be aware that the sapwood (outer rings) won't have much decay resistance. I'm not sure about the heartwood. I see conficting information on the web.
As far as filling the groove, I'm not sure that is really a good thing, since having that to temper the tendancy for the wood to split as its moisture content changes with the seasons.
Great information Steve, thanks for the help. I believe the wood is completely dry, it sands to fine dust and is smooth. It seems to have stopped splitting a week or so ago, and I have drilled several holes into the thickest portions of it and all of the interior dust has come out dry. This being said, would you still recommend not filling the groove? I live on an island - Kodiak, Alaska about 58 degrees N latitude. It is a fishing based community and I'm hoping not to have any trouble locating those recommendations as we have a few marine supply stores. Can you give me any tips on the application of these products? # of coats, dry time between coats, any necessary sanding between coats, etc...
The varnish will require overnight between coats at temperatures above 50° and preferable at about 70°.(You might apply out of doors, give the solvent an hour to flash off, and then bring it inside to cure. That keeps most, but not all, of the solvent and odors out of the indoor air.) The test of whether it is ready to be recoated is so see if it will sand. For greatest longevity the manufacturers call for 5 or 6 coats, you are far enough north that you may be able to get away with a few coats less. Sanding between coats isn't absolutely required as long as the coats are less than about 48 hours apart. But, it's not a bad thing to scuff with 320 grit to remove any defects or dust and to give more tooth for the next coat to grab.
Follow up Q's
Things are going well with my first wood working project. We had a streak of great warm dry weather, unfortunately I wasn't ready to start finishing so I couldn't take advantage of it other than working outside for a bit. I've talked a friend into letting me use a loft in his garage which stays around 75 degrees to finish the piece in. When finishing indoors in a warm place like this how critical is outdoor dew point? The garage is very dry, will dew point still of a dramtic impact on clarity an gloss of finish? I settled on using Interluxe's Schooner Classic Gloss Varnish. When applying this do different techniques result in different levels of gloss and clarity? e.g. soft rag vs foam brush vs bristle brush. I also had to create some cavaties in order to recess/hide my mounting hardware for my bell. I've shaped a plug/cap for one of these cavaties. I'm thinking I would like to stain the pieces seperate in order to get a more even stain. That way I can wait till the last moment to install my hardware, and won't have to try to apply stain around it. Is there anything I need to be aware of about dealing with these cavaties? Should they be filled with wood glue or epoxy prior to sealing them up? And will pre-staining interfere with the bond of the wood glue when I go to install the plug?
Surfaces to be glued should not be stained. The stain will interfere, to a degree, with the ability of the glue to bond.
It's the indoor himidity that counts, and a heated space will almost always be dry enough.
How you apply the finish won't have much effect on gloss or clarity per se, BUT applying with a rag will apply much less material, and you do have to build a sufficient film to get the gloss to its full potential. Foam brushes work, but unless you have thinned the varnish sufficiently (10% or so) the foam can generate bubbles. These should pop before the varnish sets, assuming the right thinning. Using a good natural bristle brush is the best way of getting a good varnish coat. You will need to thin the varnish, no matter how you will apply it. and don't pay attention to the label directions that say do not thin. That's a lie put on for regulatory purpose not an indication on how to get the best results. You need to walk a tight rope. This enough so bubbles will pop and brush strokes will level, but not so much that the varnish wants to run and/or sag. You do want to brush thin coats to avoid the sag issue.
Excellent advice, thank you again! This learning curve has been immense and I'm really enjoying all of it!
So I've taken all the necessarry prep steps so far and the results have been great! I'm a day away from starting my actually staining and finishing! But before I start I have a follow up question to my follow up questions (and hoepfully my last one for finishing): When sanding between coats... I've been advised to use 320 grit sandpaper both from this forum and the can; however, steel wool intrigues me... The piece I am finishing is full of curves, bends, and knots.... (think 8' walking stick). I feel like steel wool in the palm of my hand would be easier to manipulate over these grooves and curves for the in-between varnish coat sandings than flat 320 grit paper would. WIth the paper I feel like I sometimes rub corners and edges too hard, and steel wool's flexibility may counter some of this overpressure. Can I use steel wool to sand my varnish between coats? what grade of steel would I use if possible? What do I need to know about working with steel wool?
You have all been very helpfull and I really appreciate it (Especially Steve for the finishing guidance and Roc for the epoxy info), I promise some porject follow up pics for your reward when I'm done as I feel whatever the results are they can be attributed to the advice I have received here!
You can use steel wool, but NOT real steel wool. It leaves shards that can rust and cause problems with the next coat. You can use the artificial steel wool -- 3-M or Mirkla pads. Now they don't do a good job at removing dust nibs and other defects--sand paper cuts such defects off, steel wool kind of flows around them. Green is roughly equivalent to 00 steel wool, the grey is not quite as fine as 0000.
Almost Done
Just finishing up my project and wanted to share the results. The support branch came out great, thanks for all of the advice. It's a cut of alder pre-conditioned and then stained with golden mahogany and then 5 coats of Schooner spar Varnish. My last coat isn't as smooth as I'd like, lost of little nibs/small bumps but it has the gloss, color and depth I'm looking for. I might try to do one last light coat with a 25% thinner ratio, I've been using between 10-15%, to try to smooth it out with a very light thin coat. I also still need to seel the bell to match the base. Sorry about the poor quality pic, I don't have much in the way of a camera...
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