Replies

1. 
   RLMillard | Apr 16, 2002 03:11pm | #1

   I use the Rock Hard on all my tabletops, it is great stuff, but it isn’t easy to work with. It takes forever to dry. Here is what I do. I apply oil, grain filler and a thin coat of dewaxed shellac, before the varnish goes on. I use very high quality brushes, with the Omega brand oval being my favorite (see FWW ad for their address). Apply the first coat of varnish and let it set for 36 hours. Sand this with 220-grit paper, I use a RO sander, but this takes some guts, because a sand through can be disastrous. Follow this with one coat a day, until you have a total of 3-4 coats. I sand between each coat, not to provide a tooth, but to keep the surface level. Apply one more coat, after giving the surface a complete sanding,with 400-600 grit paper, you should have a nearly perfect surface, in other words one that is uniformly dull, before that final coat goes on. Don’t try to do this with steel wool, it gives a false sense of having achieved a truly flat surface. All this is necessary because the Rock Hard will show witness lines like no other finish I have worked with, and these can’t be fixed any other way than applying another coat. Let that last coat dry 10-14 days, longer if you can. Wet sand with 800 through 1500-grit paper, using water as a lubricant, until you have a uniform surface. If you have trouble with some very small areas that are still shiny, you can use 4/0 steel wool with the rottenstone applied to it, to knock the gloss off these areas. Switch over to a felt block that is charged with 4F pumice and mineral oil as a lubricant; follow with rottenstone on a felt block and lubricant. Be sure to clean the surface between grits. I use to do this all by hand, but because of the volume I do, I bought a Milwaukee power buffer. I have used the Behlen deluxing compound with good success, but I don’t like to wax my work and this contain wax, but it was quicker. Behelen oz polish will impart a deep rich shine, with no build up or silicone. Like I said it isn’t easy to work with, but the results are worth the effort. I’m a lazy person, and if there were an easy way to get a great finish with the Rock Hard I’d do, but what I just described is the result of over 3 years of working with it, learning by trial and ERROR.

2. 
   HowardAcheson | Apr 16, 2002 05:37pm | #2

   If you are using boiled linseed oil as your initial colorant, there is no need to apply shellac as a barrier coat. Behlen's will adhere to the cured oil as well as it adheres to the shellac. Just let the BLO fully cure--keep smelling it. When it no longer emits an odor, it's cured.