Having read one of the Fine Woodworking articles on gel urethane, I thought I would give it a try. I brushed on 3 coats of polyurethane as usual for my table top. Then to give it that no-brush-mark look as the article states, I followed up with gel urethane. But the gel application goes on so thin that it sands off very easily. And to polish the top to a shiny finish I would need to do some degrees of polishing with compounds that invariably remove a portion of the last coat.
Questions:
1. Does my need to polish the final finish coat make gel the wrong finish for this table top?
2. Is there a problem put gel urethane on top of POLYurethane? I noticed the POLY was missing in the gel after the application and was worried that chemically they may not bond well.
Am thinking of abandoning the gel and go back to my polyurethane as final cost as I have done before. Thoughts on your experience?
Replies
Polyurethane and urethane are essentially the same thing -- that's not your problem. You are right that very thin final coats don't take well to rubbing out. But poly varnishes aren't the best for rubbing out anyway. The very property that helps poly resist abrasion makes the abrasive rubbing out process more difficult to get even. You would be better advised to use a nonr-poly varnish such as Waterlox gloss or Pratt & lambert 38.
Polyurethane and urethane are essentially the same thing -- that's not your problem. You are right that very thin final coats don't take well to rubbing out. But poly varnishes aren't the best for rubbing out anyway. The very property that helps poly resist abrasion makes the abrasive rubbing out process more difficult to get even. You would be better advised to use a nonr-poly varnish such as Waterlox gloss or Pratt & lambert 38.
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