Replies

1. 
   RW | Sep 15, 2002 06:07pm | #1

   Depends some on what you're rubbing out. Lacquer rubs out nice, but pre-cat and your other reactive finishes don't, and neither do the soft finishes like spar varnish, at least not to the extent that basic nitro lacquer does. Jewitts book on Hand Applied Finishes covers this fairly well, as does Michael Dresdners. The short version: Level everything out first. A cork block or other firm backing behind 400grit wet or dry paper does this quite well. You want enough oil on the surface that the paper doesn't stick hard but not so much that you're just pushing oil. Play it by ear, you'll do fine. When the sheen is consistant (check by removing oil with a mini squeegee or a clean rag) move to 600 and repeat. You do need to be a little cautious around edges and avoid wearing through. After 600, you simply progress through finer and finer grits. And no, you don't have to stick with sandpaper. I usually go 400, 600, then 0000 steel wool, then med pumice, fine pumice, and rottenstone. You can mix the oil and rottenstone together but the end result you want is a thin (not globby) even mix on the rubbing pad. Incidentally, felt squares from a craft store wrapped around your cork block work pretty good once you're into the powders. The rottenstone will give a good even satin sheen. If you want to go farther, Meguires automotive rubbing compound on a lambswool pad does nicely. Of course, if at any point you start getting that nice sheen and look at the table and see scratches from a two grits ago, back up and fix it.  You can't turn 400 grit scratches pretty at the rottenstone stage. They're just shiny scratches at that point. But if you're really interested, the books are much more comprehensive than this.

1. 
   woodshoplast | Sep 20, 2002 04:33pm | #2

   Thanks for the info. I think i'm beyond the sanding process just want to get perfect glass smooth and shine. Used wipe on poly, buffed out with white scrubber pad, and has been sitting in the house for four weeks. Should be hard enough to rub out. Am going to mix oil and rottenstone in bowl and rub out with old tee shirt. Thanks again, agriffee