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ransley ransley is offline
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Default Varathane Finish?

On Oct 6, 8:44*am, "The Ranger" wrote:
dadiOH wrote in message

...





The Ranger wrote:
I recovered three tree-ring disks from a 100+ year old tree
that was recently cut down. I've sanded the disk down smooth
and the rings and rays look really good. I would like to
apply
a finish to the tops to really enhance the tree rings while
offering some form of protection at the same time.


I've used Varathane in the past on wood projects but these
rings will be seeing a lot of hands-on activities so
Varathane
might not be the best idea.


Any ideas or suggestions would be grand!


1. Someone suggested waiting til the wood was reasonably dry.
Good advice. Someone else suggested mineral oil. *Not good
advice as mineral oil *never* dries. *Other oils such as
linseed, tung, et al are possibilities but not great ones as
they are pretty soft and don't offer much protection.
Someone else suggested spar varnish; again, soft and not a
good choice for this application.


I wasn't planning on using any oils for those very reasons; 2nd
and 3rd graders tend not to wash their hands very carefully,
nor do they care if they're washed very carefully.

2. Since you are interested in eye appeal and protection, oil
based glossy poly (such as oil base Varathane) will give you
both. *The following steps will give you an eye catching
finish...


a) wait until the wood is dry


What will happen if I apply the Varathane to green wood?

b) make sure the wood is really well sanded - no swirl marks,
feels silky smooth. *Remove all sanding dust.


I've been sanding them over the last week; the tops are
silky-smooth and the rings and rays are really beautifully
detailed, almost eye-catching from across the room!

c) apply at *least* four coats of oil based gloss poly.
Follow the directions on the can but usually you can recoat
without sanding as long as the next coat goes on about four
hours later. *If you wait too long you need to let it dry
completely then lightly sand before applying another coat.


d) let the last coat dry at least 48 hours (longer is better)
then rub it with #0000 steel wool. *Do so until all glossy
spots are gone. *If you cut completely through the finish
anywhere, stop, apply two or more additional coats, let dry
another 48 hours then steel wool again.


I remember having to do this with shelac when I was in wood
shop (3 decades ago) but I thought Varathane frowned on being
rubbed with steel wool...

e) apply one more coat of finish. *The only purpose is to
bring back the shine so apply it thinly - *thin a bit and
either brush or wipe it on.


You could do the same thing with either regular alkyd varnish
or lacquer. Both are less scratch resistant than the poly and
lacquer will not "pop the grain" as much; the latter is also
true of water based poly.


Thanks for the step-by-step! I appreciate the details.

The Ranger- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -


It is wet, if inside it probably wont last, if it hits sun it wont
last. You dont even stain new PT for months, up to 6, and many stains
breath.