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Evodawg

wrote:

On Feb 2, 9:49 pm, Evodawg wrote:
It was built by a cabinet shop and shipped to the customer. It
seems will sanded except I did notice the filled in nail holes are
still
rough

Find out what he used to fill the holes. Some of the resin fillers
just nasty when you stain them. They don't take the stain well,
consistently, and some are bad enough that you will think you used a
marker to spot the nails.

If they are water based fillers, I would dig them out where I could
find them.

The proper way to do this is to stain, putty/fill, then clear coat.
NEVER fill nail holes first unless you are painting.

obviously he didn't do a final sanding which is probably
customary leaving that to the finisher. I'm thinking 220 would be ok???

I almost never sand beyond 220. This started years ago with me when I
had a very spirited conversation with a couple of furniture makers I
was talking to. They showed me their work, their finishes, and then I
went home and did some comparison sanding/finishing samples.

Properly sanded, to 220 is enough. I think most people continue to
sand on because 1) they think that a completely smooth surface will
make a better finish, and 2) they will do anything to keep from
finishing.

and use a block sanding method? Not sure I want to run my pad sander on
this piece? Once sanded and cleaned then stain.

Run your pad sander lightly. Then hand sand to make sure there are no
swirlies. The swirl marks or other sanding scratches will take the
stain more, so they will be highlighted.

Here again, if you sand to the fine grits I see sometimes bandied
around, you will run the risk of polishing the wood, and bending over
the fibers. This is an interesting test.

Take a piece small piece of wood, something medium hard like maple.
Sand it carefully smooth to the touch, no swirl marks, etc. with 220.
Now go to another section and sand it smooth to 400, being careful to
get the surface consistently smooth to reflect the 400 grit.

Apply your stain. You should see a lot of difference, with little
spots here and there (depending on the piece, these can be pronounced
or subtle) where the stain didn't penetrate much. On a big piece such
as a table top, this is disaster as the uniformity of the stain color
is lost.

Now imagine this with softer woods, or woods with pronounced growth
rings. The difference will knock you over.

Has anyone tried the spray
on clear coats? and what do you think on using them?

For me, about the only way to go is to spray. If I had a mantle that
I could take to the garage, or back to my shop and spray it, there
would be no question. For an over the counter application, I would
get a hard lacquer (like Old Master's) and spray away, a coat every 45
minutes until I was done. Let it sit for a few days, then install it.

Since typically a mantle is not a high use area like a table top,
lacquer is what I use, with no complaints. That doesn't mean you
couldn't use anything else you want. And just about all finishes
spray these days, so no worries there.

OTOH, I know Leon has had great success with urethanes and foam
applicators. While they aren't nearly as fast to build as lacquer,
overall they are much more durable, and they can be easier to apply
since you have a much longer open time on your project.

The last table top I did, I padded on the urethane (not sprayed...
*gasp*) and the people were tickled to death with it as it came out
great. It is easy to apply, forgiving, and just a couple of coats
will give a great long wearing finish.

Robert
I sanded with 220 and stained the Mission Style Mantel on Wed. Looks
great! I sprayed it with a fast drying satin polyurethane today,3 coats,
looks even better. Can I rub the poly with 0000 steel wool or would you
use something else. Like to get the finish a little smoother, although its
very smooth now, but would like something along the lines of a glass
finish.
Thanks,
Rich

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