I’m finishing my first dining table top and want to check my thinking. It’s a 40x60x1 cherry top made of 4 boards. Since I only have a few hours each night to work, I want to make sure I don’t do anything that will make the top cup or twist. Here’s my proposed schedule:
Night 1: Light coat of BLO to both sides to highlight grain.
Night 2: 1lb cut of Garnet shellac brushed on both sides to seal and color.
Night 3: Light sand with 600, brush coat of Waterlox to bottom only.
Night 4: Flip and brush Waterlox to top.
Night 5,6…: Pad Waterlox on top only until I get desired build.
Do you see any problems with this schedule? Will the imbalance of Waterlox coats between top and bottom cause cupping or twisting problems? Thanks in advance.
John
Replies
John,
As a general rule you should apply the same amount of coats to each side. If you are asking if doing one side one night and the other side the next will be a problem, I would say no it shouldn't. But I would try to balance them out a little better. Depending on what product you are using and the amount of wiped on coats you put on top you could most likely just brush on another coat on the bottom.
Which Waterlox product are you using? If you are using the sealer and finish this is already thinned to a wiping varnish. If you are using the original satin or gloss you will want to thin it by about 50% to wipe or pad it on. A good rule of thumb is 3 coats of wiping varnish equals one brushed coat of full strength or lightly thinned varnish. It is also a good idea to thin full strength varnish by 10% to 15% to brush it on.
Other than those suggestions it sounds like you have an excellent finish schedule to make what sounds like a really nice table a showpiece.
Rob
EDIT: You are going to want to give the BLO at least a couple of days to cure before applying your shellac. If you put on a VERY light coat and wipe off the excess really well and have perfect conditions for curing you might get away with 24 hours, but why risk it.
Edited 3/13/2007 11:36 pm ET by Rob A.
The question of whether it is OK to give less attention to the bottom depends largely on how and to what the top will be attached. If the base of the table is solid, and the top will be firmly attached albeit with provision for the width to change with the seasons it's not a big deal, but if the base is light, or if it doesn't offer much resistence to warping--such as on a trestle table, or in the leaf of a drop leaf table, then it's much more important to keep the finish balanced. If you are reproducing 18th century furniture you have to decide how faithful to the original you want to be since cabinetmakers in that era didn't often put finish on parts that weren't directly visible.
For now it will be attched to a factory furniture base with full aprons via z clips on all four sides. The base appears to be sturdy, not mortise and tenon by any means but the aprons and z clips should provide good structural support.
Thanks to all for the help.
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