To: Peter Gedrys
I made a set of kitchen cabinets several months ago in the craftsman style using quartersawn red oak from a local mill. The cabinets came out great. I used a gel stain (Bartleys Pennsylvania Cherry) to finish them. I was hoping to get a glazed look. I’m not happy with the finish. My wife says they are dull looking. There is no pop. I used poly as a topcoat. Is there anything I can do to make them look better. I have been reading your articles. I tryed using a gloos top coat on one door but the gloss looks uneven. Am I too late to get a good finish. Stripping everything would be impossible. Thanks, Codyspop
Replies
codyspop,
I don't think all is lost. You just have a little work to do.
A glazed look as you put it; a glaze is a color put over a sealed surface. It's usually done to augment the dye or stain color applied first.
The poly you applied; how many coats, did you sand between coats, what type glosssatin, what brand?
Let me know.
Peter
Peter: Thanks for getting back to me. I really appreciate your help. Finishing has historically been a weak area for me. I'm starting to experiment with rubbing out finishes after viewing your videos on website. I'll try and give more detail about the kitchen. The door panels are solid wood(Quartersawn red oak) flat on the outside and raised on the inside. The panels for the drawers, the island panels and the panels in the cabinet that surrounds the refigerator are plain sawn 1/4 inch oak plywood in solid oak frames. I used minwax fast drying gloss urethane first over the stain, sanding lightly with 220 after that coat dried. Then I usually put satin or spar semi -gloss poly(minwax) over that(usually two coats). In this case I'm 90% sure I used semi-gloss minwax. After the cabinets were up for a while I tried to bring the finish out with some minwax paste wax(no color). I put wax on in steel wool pad and buffed with soft cloth. There is some depth to the finish when one is close but when viewing from a distance with light(incandescent recessed spots) on it, finish looks dull and flat in spots. I didn't fill the wood at all before topcoats. Hope this helps.
codyspop,
Too many irons in the fire.
A spar finish is formulated to go outside. It is more flexible and is meant to move with the fluctuations in temperature. It is not meant to be applied over a hard finish like the fast drying urethane. Because a spar finish is somewhat softer, it doesn't lend itself to rubbing out to a gloss very well.
When you do rub a finish with steel wool and wax it automatically dulls the surface sheen. No matter how hard you buff, you'll not get a brighter glow from the finish. The steel wool acts as an abrasive to dull or put a satin look to your finish.
I would suggest you removed the wax by washing it with paint thinner and wiping it well with paper towels. Do a small section at a time and make sure you keep replacing the towels so you are not just smearing the wax around but removing it.
Once you get that done, lightly sand the surface with 320 paper and clean the dust well when complete.
Apply a new coat of whatever your last coat of finish was. This will build a little more surface film and bring the life back to it. Do one or two doors this way and then hang them back into position. Viewing it next to everything else will tell you if you have what you are looking for.
It is more labor than you banked on I'm sure. If you get the look, than it's time very well spent. Otherwise you'll keep looking at the finish you have now and you'll be saying to yourself for a long time " what if"..................
The other big mistake you are making is not reading and educating yourself on the process. There are a number of finishing books out there. Go to the library, grab one and read about finishing. That's when the light bulb will go off in your head.
Good luck and keep me posted.
Peter
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