Replies

1. 
   Josh_Hill | Dec 12, 2000 06:04pm | #1

   *
   Howdy!

   First of all, you're not alone ... this is the frustration of varnishes/polys; they cure hard and nice, but everything floating in the county comes to your project to settle on it.

   If you want that high-gloss finish to be retained, you need to understand that there are only a couple of alternatives for you.

   1) Build a small "finishing tent" out of firring strips, PVC pipe, or any type of scrap structural material you can get, and plastic. Apply the poly, then cover the project with the tent. If it's a small project, like a jewelry box or something, you can use those small plastic storage boxes with lids. Put the project in after finishing and apply the lid. This will keep stuff off the finish from the get-go.

   2) You had it right with the rottenstone thing, but you can keep going if you want. In fact, car polishes come in about 3 grits, are very inexpensive, and work terrific on the finish of furniture (hard ones, like poly or varnish). What you do is, rub off the dust and shear the nibs with fine (320g or 400g) sandpaper, then wet sand with say 600g to get the surface smooth. Use mineral oil or soapy water as a lubricant.

   Next, wet-sand with 800g or 1000g paper (the highest you can find). After this, apply your car polishes and rub with soft cloth. Go from the coarsest to finest grits, removing all residue from the previous grit with a clean cloth and either mineral oil or soapy water. Use denatured alcohol to dry and clean the surface of soap/oil.

   Now, what you have is a glass-smooth surface. It's the smoothness of the surface that gives the reflectivity of a gloss finish. If that's not satisfactory, however, you can apply another coat of the poly and it should go down very smooth and silky.

   Hope this helps you!

   Good luck!
   Josh

1. 
   Gretchen_ | Dec 13, 2000 01:08pm | #2

   *You might try the 50/50 method of finishing--the coats dry quickly and therefore don't trap stuff. It is a beautiful and easy finish.

1. 
   Rod_Cole | Dec 13, 2000 06:33pm | #3

   *Just to add to Gretchen's post:Making your own wiping varnish (for example, wiping poly) is easy and greatly reduces dust nibs and such. Removing the few you do get is easy, and then you can buff back to any sheen you want.You can find a set of notes on this at the bottom of my web page, listed as "Finishing Notes" at:www.gis.net/~dheaton/woodworking/woodworking.shtmlI'll try adding this as an attachment, but I don't know if that will work.- Rod Cole