Deft makes brushing lacquer that has GREAT self leveling attributes.
Would work well for a tabletop as it's horizontal. Check label for
material used to cleanup.

On Wed, 23 Feb 2005 23:01:32 GMT, "1_Patriotic_Guy"
wrote:

Please help,

I promised to make a table for my wife. All went well until I realized my
partial gallon of High Gloss polyurethane by Deft had thickened (I assume
repeated use allowed some ingredient to evaporate, guessing the metal lid is
no longer properly sealed after repeated opening and pounding shut).
Initially I thinned part of the can with paint thinner and this worked fine
on another project (baseboard trim).
On the large table surface however, I was able to see small hardened
particles in the poly. Additionally the thickness made it difficult to work
with and I made the mistake of allowing it to dry rather thick on one
portion of the table. The result, wavy distortions of the woodgrain. So I
sanded, intending to start over.
When I arrived at the store, the clerk no longer sold the same product.
They said I have my choice between Minwax brand CLEAR polyurethane or
LACQUER or SHELLAC or VARNISH. They recommended Deft brand clear lacquer.
Another store recommended CLEAR polyurethane by Minwax.
I went back to the 1st store and bought clear lacquer (maybe a mistake?).
After spot sanding, and applying LACQUER, the table top is again smooth. The
wavy distortions are gone, but some areas of the table are shiny and some
are dull. What are my options? When dry, what are the appearance and
performance/endurance differneces between Lacquer, Shellac, Varnish and
Polyurethane? Also what should I know about working with each? Will clear
polyurethane, give me the shiny finish I wanted and previously got with the
"High Gloss" polyurethane? If not can I buy Deft "High Gloss" poly through
the internet?

Thanks in advance,
Novice woodworker