I’m finishing a rather large table top and have been getting swirl marks as I wipe on the finish. I’m using General Finish Arm-R-Seal gloss diluted with 30% mineral spirits. Is it normal to get swirl marks after wiping on the coat? I’m not too worried since I can buff it away with 320 grit between coats, but I’m mostly just wiping more varnish on top of the un-sanded surface every 4-6 hours.
What puzzles me is that the instructions on the can says not to sand before putting on the last coat is this because you don’t want to have and scratches underneath before rubbing out the finish?
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Are the swirl marks from you application of the wipe on varnish, or resisduals from something else. You could alter your wiping technique to a more straight line, with the grain, approach. I can't imagine that if you shift to 400 grit paper any sanding scratches would be fully obliderated by the last coat of varnish.
No swirl marks from sanding. Just swirl marks from my application. I've used Watco wipe-on polyurethane in the past straight out of the can and don't recall wiping marks. I thinned the Arm-R-Seal, I wonder if I thinned it too much of course on the can it said, don't thin it!
swirls
Lighter amounts of finish and applied with well worn piece of lint free tee shirt. Works for me. Don't rush the process, it takes many coats.
Lighter is right! That's why I thinned the Arm-R-Seal even though the can said I shouldn't. I'm on my seventh coat, not including the shellac base.
Not lighter as in thinning, lighter as in less finish applied. I use the arm-r-seal straight from the can.
Well worn piece of tee shirt...
I'm starting to think that it's my wiping cloth. The wiping cloth is a bag of clean cloth rag I bought from the paint store, all of the cloth has a waffle pattern embossed on it. I'm going to switch to some of the t-shirt material rags that I have left and was reserving for the top of the top. (I'm practicing on the bottom side of the top.
Tee shirts
Fruit of the Finish ;-)
I use GF Arm r seal all the time. I do use old t shirt material. I also only wipe in straight lines with the grain. I never wipe on with a swirling motion. I never have seen swirl marks. I also never thin, but I do know from disussions with GF tech group that their idea of thinning with mineral spirits is about 10%, not 30%.
Jerry
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