I have a table top that I sanded and put some oil based poly on per my
wife's request. The odd thing is while the poly goes on smooth, as it
sits there it sort of "separates". Kind of like an oil and water
thing. It eventually dries, but sort of dull. It is a Minwax quick
drying oil based poly. It did this through 2 coats, I'm going to try
a third coat tonight as it will have had time to dry for 24 hours.

Has anybody ever seen this type of thing?

-Jim

jtpr wrote:
I have a table top that I sanded and put some oil based poly on per my
wife's request. The odd thing is while the poly goes on smooth, as it
sits there it sort of "separates". Kind of like an oil and water
thing. It eventually dries, but sort of dull. It is a Minwax quick
drying oil based poly. It did this through 2 coats, I'm going to try
a third coat tonight as it will have had time to dry for 24 hours.

Has anybody ever seen this type of thing?

-Jim

Sanded it with stearated paper did you? That's the light grey/whitish,
soapy feeling stuff.

--

dadiOH
____________________________

dadiOH's dandies v3.06...
....a help file of info about MP3s, recording from
LP/cassette and tips & tricks on this and that.
Get it at http://mysite.verizon.net/xico

On Mar 2, 4:06*pm, "dadiOH" wrote:
jtpr wrote:
I have a table top that I sanded and put some oil based poly on per my
wife's request. *The odd thing is while the poly goes on smooth, as it
sits there it sort of "separates". *Kind of like an oil and water
thing. *It eventually dries, but sort of dull. *It is a Minwax quick
drying oil based poly. *It did this through 2 coats, I'm going to try
a third coat tonight as it will have had time to dry for 24 hours.

Has anybody ever seen this type of thing?

-Jim

Sanded it with stearated paper did you? *That's the light grey/whitish,
soapy feeling stuff.

--

dadiOH
____________________________

dadiOH's dandies v3.06...
...a help file of info about MP3s, recording from
LP/cassette and tips & tricks on this and that.
Get it athttp://mysite.verizon.net/xico

? Sorry, don't get it...

I sanded it with 180 on my RO sander, then handsanded it with 400.

-Jim

"jtpryan" wrote in message
...
On Mar 2, 4:06 pm, "dadiOH" wrote:
jtpr wrote:
I have a table top that I sanded and put some oil based poly on per my
wife's request. The odd thing is while the poly goes on smooth, as it
sits there it sort of "separates". Kind of like an oil and water
thing. It eventually dries, but sort of dull. It is a Minwax quick
drying oil based poly. It did this through 2 coats, I'm going to try
a third coat tonight as it will have had time to dry for 24 hours.

Has anybody ever seen this type of thing?

-Jim

Sanded it with stearated paper did you? That's the light grey/whitish,
soapy feeling stuff.

--

dadiOH
____________________________

dadiOH's dandies v3.06...
...a help file of info about MP3s, recording from
LP/cassette and tips & tricks on this and that.
Get it athttp://mysite.verizon.net/xico

? Sorry, don't get it...

I sanded it with 180 on my RO sander, then handsanded it with 400.

-Jim

I think what dadiOH is saying is you applied something to the surface that
the finish won't adhere to. You could try cleaing it thoroughly with
whatever solvent won't damage your finish but will also remove the wax, oil,
or whateve is on there. Try a small area near the edge first.

Sometimes it's necessary to apply a couple of coats of shellac between
incompatable finishes to prevent ugly messes.

On Mar 2, 4:39*pm, "Ulysses" wrote:
"jtpryan" wrote in message

...
On Mar 2, 4:06 pm, "dadiOH" wrote:



jtpr wrote:
I have a table top that I sanded and put some oil based poly on per my
wife's request. The odd thing is while the poly goes on smooth, as it
sits there it sort of "separates". Kind of like an oil and water
thing. It eventually dries, but sort of dull. It is a Minwax quick
drying oil based poly. It did this through 2 coats, I'm going to try
a third coat tonight as it will have had time to dry for 24 hours.

Has anybody ever seen this type of thing?

-Jim

Sanded it with stearated paper did you? That's the light grey/whitish,
soapy feeling stuff.

--

dadiOH
____________________________

dadiOH's dandies v3.06...
...a help file of info about MP3s, recording from
LP/cassette and tips & tricks on this and that.
Get it athttp://mysite.verizon.net/xico

? Sorry, don't get it...

I sanded it with 180 on my RO sander, then handsanded it with 400.

-Jim

I think what dadiOH is saying is you applied something to the surface that
the finish won't adhere to. *You could try cleaing it thoroughly with
whatever solvent won't damage your finish but will also remove the wax, oil,
or whateve is on there. *Try a small area near the edge first.

Sometimes it's necessary to apply a couple of coats of shellac between
incompatable finishes to prevent ugly messes.

OK, here is what I did. This is an old table, as in antique, not
valuable, just antique. Anyway, I first tried cleaning it with
mineral spirits to see if that would look better. It didn't change it
much. So, after it dried (~24 hrs), I sanded it as mentioned above
and put a coat of the poly on. Then, ~4 hrs later I sanded again with
just the 400 grit, and put the poly on with the aforementioned
problem.

Was (were?) the mineral spirits the problem?

-Jim

jtpryan wrote:
OK, here is what I did. This is an old table, as in antique, not
valuable, just antique. Anyway, I first tried cleaning it with
mineral spirits to see if that would look better. It didn't change it
much. So, after it dried (~24 hrs), I sanded it as mentioned above
and put a coat of the poly on. Then, ~4 hrs later I sanded again with
just the 400 grit, and put the poly on with the aforementioned
problem.

Was (were?) the mineral spirits the problem?

Doubtful. It's more likely that at some point a nasty furniture polish
(like Pledge) had been used (perhaps repeatedly?) and worked its way
deep into the wood. You don't mention what kind of finish was on the
piece before you started... Had it been varnished? Over stain? How
much material did you remove when you sanded it? Some of these
"furniture polishes" contain crap that should never come *near* a piece
of wood (like silicon) and could easily cause problems with a new finish
if not completely eradicated, which is something a simple sanding
operation may not accomplish.

--
Free bad advice available here.
To reply, eat the taco.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/bbqboyee/

Well it sounds like you have an existing finish that you did not
completly remove, if I follow completly.

Mineral spirits will remove some stuff but it could be wax left
behind.

The second possibility is that the original finish is Lacquer. You
can't put other finishes over lacquer. It will sort of wrinkle or
crackle.

The good thing is that eventually you will cover enough of the old
finish that you won't see the problem anymore. Sanding to raw wood is
really the best or as others said use shellac, it can pretty much go
over anything and have anything over it.

On Mar 2, 1:39*pm, "Ulysses" wrote:
"jtpryan" wrote in message

...
On Mar 2, 4:06 pm, "dadiOH" wrote:





jtpr wrote:
I have a table top that I sanded and put some oil based poly on per my
wife's request. The odd thing is while the poly goes on smooth, as it
sits there it sort of "separates". Kind of like an oil and water
thing. It eventually dries, but sort of dull. It is a Minwax quick
drying oil based poly. It did this through 2 coats, I'm going to try
a third coat tonight as it will have had time to dry for 24 hours.

Has anybody ever seen this type of thing?

-Jim

Sanded it with stearated paper did you? That's the light grey/whitish,
soapy feeling stuff.

--

dadiOH
____________________________

dadiOH's dandies v3.06...
...a help file of info about MP3s, recording from
LP/cassette and tips & tricks on this and that.
Get it athttp://mysite.verizon.net/xico

? Sorry, don't get it...

I sanded it with 180 on my RO sander, then handsanded it with 400.

-Jim

I think what dadiOH is saying is you applied something to the surface that
the finish won't adhere to. *You could try cleaing it thoroughly with
whatever solvent won't damage your finish but will also remove the wax, oil,
or whateve is on there. *Try a small area near the edge first.

Sometimes it's necessary to apply a couple of coats of shellac between
incompatable finishes to prevent ugly messes.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

"jtpr" wrote in message
...
I have a table top that I sanded and put some oil based poly on per my
wife's request. The odd thing is while the poly goes on smooth, as it
sits there it sort of "separates". Kind of like an oil and water
thing. It eventually dries, but sort of dull. It is a Minwax quick
drying oil based poly. It did this through 2 coats, I'm going to try
a third coat tonight as it will have had time to dry for 24 hours.

Has anybody ever seen this type of thing?

-Jim

Yes. Your poly was "satin" ? If so then there are gloss breakers that
separate. You need to MIX the poly completely for more than a couple
minutes.

On Mar 2, 5:42*pm, "bw" wrote:
"jtpr" wrote in message

...

I have a table top that I sanded and put some oil based poly on per my
wife's request. *The odd thing is while the poly goes on smooth, as it
sits there it sort of "separates". *Kind of like an oil and water
thing. *It eventually dries, but sort of dull. *It is a Minwax quick
drying oil based poly. *It did this through 2 coats, I'm going to try
a third coat tonight as it will have had time to dry for 24 hours.

Has anybody ever seen this type of thing?

-Jim

Yes. Your poly was "satin" ? If so then there are gloss breakers that
separate. You need to MIX the poly completely for more than a couple
minutes.

No the poly was gloss. But the third coat seemed to do it. It looks
fine now. I have another one to do, so maybe I'll sand it well, then
shellac, then poly. If I do this what type/brand of shellac should I
use? I have never used this before.

-Jim

"jtpryan" wrote in message
...
On Mar 2, 5:42 pm, "bw" wrote:
"jtpr" wrote in message

...

I have a table top that I sanded and put some oil based poly on per my
wife's request. The odd thing is while the poly goes on smooth, as it
sits there it sort of "separates". Kind of like an oil and water
thing. It eventually dries, but sort of dull. It is a Minwax quick
drying oil based poly. It did this through 2 coats, I'm going to try
a third coat tonight as it will have had time to dry for 24 hours.

Has anybody ever seen this type of thing?

-Jim

Yes. Your poly was "satin" ? If so then there are gloss breakers that
separate. You need to MIX the poly completely for more than a couple
minutes.

No the poly was gloss. But the third coat seemed to do it. It looks
fine now. I have another one to do, so maybe I'll sand it well, then
shellac, then poly. If I do this what type/brand of shellac should I
use? I have never used this before.

-Jim

I don't have a favorite brand (I don't think there are a lot of choices) but
shellac can be tricky because it dries so quickly. It must be applied all
at once so spraying would be my first choice over brushing. Having said
that what I would probably do is mist it lightly, several coats, then smooth
it out with fine sandpaper or steel wool and achieve the smooth finish on
the top finish. This may take a few coats.

Ulysses wrote:
"jtpryan" wrote in message
...
On Mar 2, 5:42 pm, "bw" wrote:
"jtpr" wrote in message

...

I have a table top that I sanded and put some oil based poly on per my
wife's request. The odd thing is while the poly goes on smooth, as it
sits there it sort of "separates". Kind of like an oil and water
thing. It eventually dries, but sort of dull. It is a Minwax quick
drying oil based poly. It did this through 2 coats, I'm going to try
a third coat tonight as it will have had time to dry for 24 hours.
Has anybody ever seen this type of thing?
-Jim
Yes. Your poly was "satin" ? If so then there are gloss breakers that
separate. You need to MIX the poly completely for more than a couple
minutes.

No the poly was gloss. But the third coat seemed to do it. It looks
fine now. I have another one to do, so maybe I'll sand it well, then
shellac, then poly. If I do this what type/brand of shellac should I
use? I have never used this before.

-Jim

I don't have a favorite brand (I don't think there are a lot of choices) but
shellac can be tricky because it dries so quickly. It must be applied all
at once so spraying would be my first choice over brushing. Having said
that what I would probably do is mist it lightly, several coats, then smooth
it out with fine sandpaper or steel wool and achieve the smooth finish on
the top finish. This may take a few coats.


A note: for the seal coat use a dewaxed shellac such as Zinsser Sealcoat.
mahalo,
jo4hn

Yes, use Zinser Sealcoat. It is a premixed version available at Home
Depot, etc. There is alspo Zinser Bulles Eye but it is NOT dewaxed.
Other than that you would have to buy flakes and mix your own, big
trouble for a one-time deal.

I "think" you can get seal coat in a spray can but maybe not.
Regardless, I think the brushing should be OK. Shellac is alcohol
based and does drie fast but not so fast you can't get it smooth but
try to use enough on the brush to lay down single overlapping strokes.
Trying to rebrush a stroke can be a problem it will be partially dry
in seconds.

An old trick if you are having big problems with drying too fast is to
mix in some rubbing (Isopropyl) alcohol. It dries slower. Also any
additive that can be used with lacquer will also work with shellac so
you can use lacquer additives to increase open time if needed. For
your case probably just brush on some straight seal coat.

On Mar 4, 7:35*am, jtpryan wrote:
On Mar 2, 5:42*pm, "bw" wrote:





"jtpr" wrote in message

...

I have a table top that I sanded and put some oil based poly on per my
wife's request. *The odd thing is while the poly goes on smooth, as it
sits there it sort of "separates". *Kind of like an oil and water
thing. *It eventually dries, but sort of dull. *It is a Minwax quick
drying oil based poly. *It did this through 2 coats, I'm going to try
a third coat tonight as it will have had time to dry for 24 hours.

Has anybody ever seen this type of thing?

-Jim

Yes. Your poly was "satin" ? If so then there are gloss breakers that
separate. You need to MIX the poly completely for more than a couple
minutes.

No the poly was gloss. *But the third coat seemed to do it. *It looks
fine now. *I have another one to do, so maybe I'll sand it well, then
shellac, then poly. *If I do this what type/brand of shellac should I
use? *I have never used this before.

-Jim- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -