Sanded pine table top to 320x. Used fresh Zin Sealcoat (1 lb cut) to seal entire table and put a second coat on end grain. Lightly sanded with 400x. When I applied oil-based gel stain coat it shows up shellac “edge” between one coat and 2 coat surfaces.
1. Is it simply that I did not sand enough?
2. In future what can I use to test whether I have sanded enough? (Would paint thinner highlight “edge”?)
Tx for help.
(Oh boy can’t wait to start re-sanding entire top.)
Jess
Replies
Don't use stain
: )
Ok maybe that didn't help much.
Try using an even thinner cut of sealer ( shellac ).
You didn't sand too little on the basic surfaces--sanding bare wood to 320 is never needed except on a few hardwoods to be finishes with an oil/varnish finish.
I'm not sure what you mean about an "edge" ? Do you mean that the shellac prevented the gel stain from grabbing hold on a line where end grain met the top surface (the aris), showing a thin white line at that point? Or was it a dark line at the aris?
You need more coats
I find that when doing a shellac wash coat that I get better results when I do three, not one.
1st I cut Seal Coat to a 1 pound coat - it's 2 pounds in the can.
2nd I literally flood the surface with shellac - this is the part that eliminates brush marks and stripeing ("Thanks", to other Mike).
3rd I let it dry for an hour and then, using a cork backed sanding block and 240 grit sand paper, lightly sand away the "fuzzing" and other little nits that occur when you apply (water or) alcohol to sanded wood.
I repeat the above two more times to get a truly evenly washcoated surface that is smooth and ready for the next coat of finish.
A bonus of this approach for me is that after the 3rd coat I can often see flaws to my surface prep that I could not see in the initially sanded surface. Now's the time to fix those as they will be amplified by any well applied clear finish coat. Don't forget to reseal any repairs that you make at this point.
Mike D
P.S. Be sure that you use "Seal Coat" as it is dewaxed. The other shellacs in a can are not dewaxed and will not allow your next finishing step to properly bond to the shellac.
How do you prevent the second and third coats from disolving the ones underneath?
By "edge" I'm guessing you
By "edge" I'm guessing you mean lap marks where some of the 2nd coat got onto the table top surface. I think that's always going to be a risk with partial coverage. If you want to double coat the ends, I'd apply the first coat to the edges and then sand pretty well the surface includng near the edges so any shellac that got onto the top is removed. Then you could apply coat to both the top and edes. Three washcoats would severely limit the amount of stain the wood could take, I would expect. Before you begin finishing again experiment on some scrap to try to avoid another unpleasant experience.
Your point that "Three
Your point that "Three washcoats would severely limit the amount of stain the wood could take, I would expect." is exactly right. I got so interested in my answer that I forgot that he is staining the piece!
One wash coat, well flooded to eliminate stripeing and then sanded should be more than sufficient preparation for staining.
Mike D
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