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Baron
 
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For those that don't know, "fisheyes" are what happens when a finish,
typically lacquer, pulls away from the surface leaving a dry spot, sometimes
with a drop of finish remaining in the middle of the "hole". They are
caused by silicone oil contamination. The silicone interferes with the
surface tension of the system and the finish pulls away from it.

When I refinish a piece of furniture, I always assume there is some
silicone contamination. The most popular spray waxes contain silicone. The
first thing I do, at least after stripping a piece, is to make sure I give
the surface a good washing with a solution of toluene, acetone, and alcohol.
This is really to remove the remains of the stripper but it also helps to
remove residual silicone oil. If I think the contamination is really bad, I
may wash it down with a little ammonia. I use a lot of fresh rags so I
don't just spread any silicone contamination around.
After cleaning, I seal the surface with a sprayed coat of dewaxed
shellac. I don't use an exotic spray system, just a Preval spray can. By
mixing my own, I can choose the type - garnet, amber, white, etc. I can
even add a little Transtint to make it exactly the way I want. I have not
tried spraying Zinsser's Seal-Coat but it should work pretty well. I spray
rather than brush since I have found that brushing stirs up the silicone
rather than sealing it in. I continue with my finishing schedule. I am on
the lookout for fisheyes and if I see any, I immediately wipe off the still
wet finish. If another sealing with sprayed shellac does not do the trick,
I will add a little silicone oil to the finish. One brand is "Smoothie" but
there are many others and they all work as well as each other. The purpose
of adding a tiny bit of silicone oil to the finish is to make the surface
tensions of the surface and finish the same so they will remain in contact.
I don't like using these fisheye removers since too much will make the
finish
soft and less glossy. They also tends to leave residual amounts on brushes.
I've never had an occurrence, at least not yet, that I couldn't handle
by
these methods.

Good Luck

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wrote in message
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How do you handle fish eyes?