On 10/16/2018 9:39 PM, -MIKE- wrote:
On 10/16/18 6:04 PM, Meanie wrote:
Finishing my stair treads and risers with clear polyurethane. I
sanded up to 220 and the surface was very smooth to the touch. After
3 coats of poly (4 coats on treads), the touch isn't really smooth. I
can actually fell parts of the grain and was wondering if that's
normal or not. Perhaps I'm expecting a smooth glass like touch to
finishes such as shellac or lacquer but uncertain with poly. Is this
normal? If so, what are opinions about lacquer over a poly finish?

Thanks


Oak has very wide grain and deep pores.
The poly will follow these hills and valleys like snow falling on bumpy
ground.
The only way to get a smooth, perfectly flat surface finish is to level
sand and build coats.

This is done all the time with lacquer, but I don't know if it works
with poly.Â* The problem with poly is that each successive coat sits on
top of the one underneath.Â* So if you sand through a coat, you get
rings/lines
like a topographical map showing where the top coat is worn through.

With lacquer, each sort of "melts in" to the one underneath, creating,
in essence, one thick coat instead of several individual coats built up,
so it's easier to level sand to fill pores and grain.

I'm not a finish expert and I'm not very good with poly, so there may be
a proper technique for filling pores and grain and level sanding with
poly as well.

I also may not have all of the exact details correct, but I'm pretty
sure I got the gist of it right.



The gist is a good explanation. Thank you