DIYbanter - View Single Post - How to Apply the Last Coat of Poly for a Dining Table Top?

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wrote:
Sounds kinda like how I do floors... it takes forever.

And, you cannot get to use the room... This should give you a lot of
incentive to finish the job quickly.

I use a synthetic bristle brush and thin the poly to 50/50. the first
coat is really sparse and is absorbed by most of the white oak, then
apply another coat of 50% gloss poly / 50% thinner... starts to look
better.

Then sand with 400 grit paper, then put a final coat of about 30% poly
/70% thinner on top. This leaves a pretty good finish, but it takes
FOREVER to get rid of all the bubbles, and you've gotta use a very very
strong flashlight and put your cheek on the floor to see them.

The parts that I don't quite understand a

o Why there are many bubbles if you have already thinned the poly
significantly? I got bubbles only when I lightly thinned the poly.
When I use the wipe-on-poly (that I believe is thinned to 50/50), I
don't have any bubble.

o How exactly did you manage to remove the bubbles after they were
already there? This is the part that I really want to know in case
next time when I need to high build the finish for rubbing finish.

By the way, last night I applied three coats of wipe-on-poly on the
dining table. That process took much longer than I thought because the
temperature in my unheat basement is not high; therefore, the
wipe-on-poly took much longer than I had planned to dry enough for me
to apply the next coat. As of the result... Good enough for my own
use, but not good enough as something that I can be proud of. Even
after running the air cleaner for a couple hours, I still have dusts on
the surface here and there. Moreover, the sheen is still not even.
But it is good enough for the intended purpose; therefore, I will stop
the project right here. Next time if I need to create a show-piece, I
will definitely try rubbing the finish.

Jay Chan