Replies

1. 
   HowardAcheson | May 09, 2002 06:21pm | #1

   If you want a satin finish, just lightly sand with 400 W&D using water as a lubricant. Wipe clean. This will remove the boogers. Now apply a coat of furniture paste wax using a gray scotchbrite pad and buff.

   Note: Be sure your finish is fully cured. If it still has an odor, give it more time.

2. 
   Alan | May 09, 2002 09:28pm | #2

   Cutawooda,

   Howie is right, it depends on what kind of final finish you're looking for.  I assume you filled the wood and that you used gloss varnish--there's no reason to use anything else.  As you discovered, the set up time for varnish is so long that it's nearly impossible to get a perfectly smooth finish with no dust spots, etc.  So varnish has to be rubbed out.  If you use gloss varnish you can get any finish you want from egg shell to glassy smooth depending on how far you go rubbing it out.  Semi-gloss and duller varnishes contain softeners--that's what makes them dull--so they are a softer finish even after fully curing.  As a result they do not give as much protection as a gloss varnish rubbed out to a similar finish.

   Howie has told you how to level the surface and rub it out to get a dull semi-gloss finish.  If you want a more glossy finish, after you have leveled the surface as Howie described, you can rub it out further with 0000 steel wool and some "wool lube"--a thick, water soluble, "soapy" substance that significantly reduces the amount the wool cuts, leaving a shinier surface than is possible with wool and any other lubricant.  (I have found no substitute for wool lube.  If there is one, I would like to know about it.)  This is generally where I stop the process.  With some good hard wax the surface is nice and shiney without feeling cold and slick.

   If you want to go even glossier you can rub it out with pumice and rottenstone, using paraffin oil as a lubricant, and a felt block.  Start with the pumice. (I always use paraffin oil as a lubricant.  I've heard you can use other things, like soapy water and mineral oil.  But I've found those don't do as well as paraffin oil.)  After rubbing out the piece with pumice I try some wax on a spot or two to see if that is the look I want.

   If you want the maximum gloss proceed on to the rottenstone with a fresh piece of felt block.  With rottenstone you can get a surface that is nearly as glassy smooth as a french polish.

   Alan