Replies

1. 
   Jfrostjr | Mar 21, 2008 04:20pm | #1

   Have you considered Abralon pads on a ROS? Grits are available in 500, 1000, 2000 and 4000. Then apply wax - but you might want to read other posts about BriWax.

   Frosty

   "I sometimes think we consider the good fortune of the early bird and overlook the bad fortune of the early worm." FDR - 1922

2. 
   saschafer | Mar 21, 2008 04:50pm | #2

   I would first try the steel wool on one of the "rougher" areas, lubricated lightly with mineral spirits. See if it cleans up the nibs and you like the look. If so, then just do the whole thing that way with your wax of choice (other than Briwax...). If not, then the suggested Abralon pads on a random-orbital sander should do a very nice job, although I might wait a couple of more weeks to be sure that the finish is really hard.

   -Steve

    

1. 
   Scottp57 | Mar 21, 2008 07:06pm | #3

   Thanks for the thoughts guys.

   Scott

    

1. 
   Joe Sullivan | Mar 22, 2008 12:02am | #4

   Peter Gedrys recommended the Abralon pads to me for another project.  I haven't yet used them, but he has had very good results.  He said that they are much faster than hand rubbing.  One question I forgot to ask him, though, is which grit system is used for them.  Do the correspond to Ameridcan grits, P - grits, or some system of their own?

   J

3. 
   douglas2cats | Mar 22, 2008 02:57pm | #5

   I've had very good results using this stuff over wipe-on poly

   http://www.woodcraft.com/family.aspx?familyid=3237

   I've only used it by hand with clean cotton rags pretty much the same way you'd apply and then rub out car polish. It knocks the glossy sheen down and leaves the surface super smooth.

    

   If you build it he will come.

4. 
   Rich14 | Mar 22, 2008 04:43pm | #6

   Scott,

   There are two important considerations regarding rubbing out your varnish. If you accommodate them, you will get a much superior result than any other process.

   1. Let your varnish cure for a full 4 weeks before rubbing out. It is simply too soft at 2 weeks. Make sure it has been curing at least at 68-70 degrees. If the temperature has been lower, give it more time.

   2. Rubbing out any finish does not begin with use of any kind of soft abrasive pad such as steel wool or one of the newer soft micro abrasive materials. It begins with leveling the finish.

   The surface of your finish right now is a wavy plateau, with nibs of dust sticking up as little spiky mountains WAY higher than the gentle undulations of hills and valleys of the wavy plateau.

   You need to level the entire finish surface to an even, uniformly-flat plane before you polish it out with soft abrasive such as steel wool and finer abrasives.

   You CAN use soft pads of abrasive without leveling the finish. You will achieve a surface polished to that abrasive grit. But the pad will simply follow the undulations of the unleveled surface, polishing hills, valleys and peaks. A surface, first leveled, then rubbed looks vastly better and is much more satisfying. It's the "professional" way to do it.

   Leveling is done using sandpaper on a semi-rigid sanding block (rubber or hard-felt). Using barely more than the weight of your hand and the sanding block and 220-320 grit, take down the mountains and larger hills. The finish should sand to a fine, dry powder. If it doesn't, it's too soft. Give it more curing time.

   Proceed gently. The high spots will come down quickly, then more slowly grow in size and the still-shiny valleys will shrink. Here's the "bad" news - you may need to add another coat of finish, because you may find the leveling process cuts through the thinner areas before the entire surface has achieved a completely uniform "ground-glass-look." You see, most finishers level the surface after every few applications, leaving the last coat to cure before final, minimal leveling and rubbing out. Leveling will tell you if you need to build the finish with a few more applications.

   After you have achieved a uniform, leveled finish, rubbing out will be very quick and easy, and will give you a beautiful, uniform polish at whatever abrasive grade you decide to stop. Just using 4-0 steel wool gives a soft glow, which is what you probably want. Going up through finer grits refines the surface more and more up through mirror polish.

   Rich

1. 
   Scottp57 | Mar 24, 2008 03:51pm | #7

   Thanks for the replys guys.

   Rich, I guess I was concerned about sanding through the finish, since it is pretty thin due to it being wiping varnish.  I did not fill the pores in the walnut, will I still be able to get the benefit from the leveling sanding that you describe?

   Thanks,

   Scott

1. 
   Rich14 | Mar 25, 2008 02:50am | #8

   Scott,Since you applied 6 coats of a mixture with half as much solids as a full strength finish, I figured you had the rough equivalent of a 3 coat varnish film. (But maybe not)You need a sufficient film build before leveling can be done. But as I said, most finishers level varnish with each application, and your varnish film may be the equivalent of only a partially-varnished job. You may need more varnish.I use the leveling process to tell me when I've applied a thick enough film to stop building and start rubbing. After the first coat, leveling takes down the highest protrusions and dust nibs. There are still many shiny valleys that can't be made dull without sanding through somewhere.After the next several coats, with leveling after each, the whole finish surface gets more and more even. The shiny valleys get smaller and smaller and the "ground-glass" areas get larger and larger and merge together.At a certain point, the whole surface merges as one even, dull landscape. This happens with VERY little effort with the sanding block (and that's the signal that the job is almost done) because the finish film is level to better than a few ten-thousandths. This is usually after the 3rd or 4th coat. It's done then, and gets to cure for 4 weeks. Then rubbed out.The leveling process removes a lot of finish. It may appear to be removing almost as much as you applied (not really). Resulting in a much thinner film than would result from just applying coat after coat.The result is as far from a plastic look as there is. It's really what people mean when they talk about a "fine furniture finish." If it hasn't occurred to you, it also removes the "fear of dust" and other imperfections in the finish. (That's a fear that actually discourages a LOT of woodworkers from ever applying finish!)In fact, the process makes the dust "problem" of finishing (especially with varnish) completely moot. Leveling is the professional finisher's "secret" that absolutely takes dust out of the equation. Dust simply makes no difference when you learn how to level. How great is THAT? It turns a process that is usually full of anxiety into a quiet, predictable, enjoyable activity. Just like sanding the wood itself.Especially with lacquer, but even with varnish I like to make my finish as "close to the wood" as possible. No thicker than it has to be. With lacquer, it's possible to prepare a finish that is very hard and durable but looks like a perpetually wet, oiled finish, with visible pores and all (a real oiled finish looks nice when first applied but dulls after a few days or weeks and gives no protection).Even with varnish, I get a very thin film, that most people think is lacquer. It's not possible to finish varnish as thin as lacquer, but I never leave a real thick film, except on an actual bar top.Rich

1. 
   Scottp57 | Mar 25, 2008 03:37pm | #9

   Thanks for the explanation Rich.

   Scott