A while back I had trouble finishing a table top with Varnish over BLO
(tiny bubbles in my finish, makes me feel sad). With help from the
wreck I got it right by thinning the varnish more and applying it with
a rag instead of a brush.

Thinking back I had no trouble with the legs and apron of the table.
Aside from the size of the top compared to the size of the apron the
only difference was I was applying the finish vertically on the apron
and horizontally on the top. A quick google only leads to "less likely
to have dust problems when the piece is vertical".

How do you orient a piece when applying finish, horizontally or
vertically?

Does it matter?

RayV wrote:
A quick google only leads to "less likely
to have dust problems when the piece is vertical".

More likely to have runs when the piece is vertical.

Chris

In article om, "RayV" wrote:
A while back I had trouble finishing a table top with Varnish over BLO
(tiny bubbles in my finish, makes me feel sad). With help from the
wreck I got it right by thinning the varnish more and applying it with
a rag instead of a brush.

Thinking back I had no trouble with the legs and apron of the table.
Aside from the size of the top compared to the size of the apron the
only difference was I was applying the finish vertically on the apron
and horizontally on the top. A quick google only leads to "less likely
to have dust problems when the piece is vertical".

How do you orient a piece when applying finish, horizontally or
vertically?

Hoizontally. Because:

1. Less risk of runs
2. I can see the job better
3. My bench is horizontal ;-)

Even though there must be more exposure to airborn dust
particles.

I recently refinished a whole bunch of kitchen cabinets
with an oil based poly. I used a (Wooster) foam brush
and was most impressed with it. It's a relatively idiot
proof way to apply a nice thin and even finish, free
from brush marks and bubble problems. Yes, I did thin
the poly a little too.

Also, bear in mind that a very light sanding between
coats will ensure that imperfections from dust particles
and bubbles do not accumulate as you apply successive
coats.

--
|~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~|
| Malcolm Hoar "The more I practice, the luckier I get". |
| Gary Player. |
| http://www.malch.com/ Shpx gur PQN. |
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Malcolm Hoar wrote:
snip
I recently refinished a whole bunch of kitchen cabinets
with an oil based poly. I used a (Wooster) foam brush
and was most impressed with it. It's a relatively idiot
proof way to apply a nice thin and even finish, free
from brush marks and bubble problems. Yes, I did thin
the poly a little too.


I also tried the Wooster brush on H2O based poly and it worked great.
I even took the time to rinse it out afterwards instead of throwing it
out. Worth the extra buck or two over the cheaper brushes.

Now if I could could just convince myself to stop buying cheap router
bits...