About a year ago I made an 8-foot dining room table from kiln dried pine, inch thick. Client wanted a “close to wood” look but also was willing for it to be distressed and/or “bullet proof” so it could be put to daily use without concern. I compromised with two coats of poly, thinking I could always add another coat later if it proved too think a protection.
The other day I was visiting and noticed some rashes of tiny goose bumps on parts of the table. Looking closely it looks like tiny, barely perceptable bubbles, almost like specks of dust caught in the finish, although I don’t remember them being there when I sanded down the final coat. There are also minute, short hair-like black lines associated with each tiny bump.
Is it flecks of resin or sap bleeding out through the thin coats of poly?
And what can be done? I considered sanding the topcoat down smooth again and recoating a couple more times, but then wondered if the sap or whatever wouldn’t just reappear.
Any thoughts.
gaf
Replies
Gaf, it sounds like resin bleed. Pine often bleeds resin when it is move to a more arid environment. In other words, as the wood gives up moisture and shrinks, it tends to squeeze out resin. This is especially noticeable around knots and on the end grain, but it can also occur on the flat sawn surface...because the pines contain resin canals throughout the wood tissue.
You might have avoided this problem had you given the piece a sealing coat of shellac prior to the top coats of varnish.
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