I have turned some vine glass stems out of an oily wood. I finished them with wipe on polly but they never completely dried. I refinished them with urethane and now have a pebble finish. what am I doing wrong????
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Finish problem
- Thread starter Jim Bellinghieri
- Start date
I’m not sure why you need a film finish on oily wood. I would just use a bit of oil, walnut or other.
If you must do the film thing, start with shellac. Apply thinned, 50/50, let dry for a few minutes, then remove all of it with 0000 steel wool. Then whatever you like.
Of course you have to get the other stuff off, first.
If you must do the film thing, start with shellac. Apply thinned, 50/50, let dry for a few minutes, then remove all of it with 0000 steel wool. Then whatever you like.
Of course you have to get the other stuff off, first.
Sometimes oil aint your friend. But if want/need to apply a varnish finish you have to as suggested sort the oil out first. In my case I would use something like DNA to wash the oil away and probably wash it several times. Then thin out your poly Urethane at least for the first coat.
My understanding is that many exotic woods are so oily that they are hostile to film finishes. If you have to have a film finish on a piece of one of these, you first have to remove the natural oils with a solvent, like alcohol, or even acetone. Then apply the finish and cross your fingers.
I would thoroughly wipe down the existing finish with mineral spirits or lacquer thinner. Get it completely off. With oily exotics I might sand to 1200 grit or even through 2,000 or 3,000. Then I buff with wax. If I really want a poly finish, like maybe bottle stoppers, then like has been mentioned, you need s good coat of dewaxed shellac follwed by poly. If the shellac isn't put on adequately, (wipe the wood with the thinner then apply shellac) you'll be back to stripping and redoing because it will always be sticky.
What's the difference between poly and urethane? Sounds like the same thing to me. What does the SDS sheet say about the ingredients of the two finishes you used? You could get a better bond if you washed the oily wood with acetone before applying the finish. But since you didn't tell us the wood species or the finishing product, it's all guess work for us.
Pebble finish, that's a nice description. Oily woods dry very, very slowly. If they aren't completely dry (or equalized to the environment, at least) once the cells continue to contract, the oil gets forced to the surface. Unless you have something like shellac between the film finish and the oil, the oil usually penetrates the film and gives the pebble look. I agree with the other folks here, strip your poly, wash the wood with DNA/acetone/mineral spirits, and then use shellac and buff.