oil based poly over Water based?

Dan Thibert

Member
Messages
183
Location
Leominster Mass
Hi Folks,
I have a coffee table that I do not like the way I finished it and would like to do it better with an oil based poly. Can I just go over the Water based poly that I had used, do I need to sand it all down or do I need something in the middle.

Your help woudl be appreciated.
Dan
 
One difference between oil based and water based is that oil based usually gives an orange tint to the wood. Water based is usually clear, so the finish comes out different between the two.

You can get the oil based look by using a dewaxed shellac on the wood as a sanding sealer before you apply the water based finish. The shellac gives the orange color to the wood.

To answer you actual question, you should be able to apply oil based over water based but sand the water based finish to give the oil based something to grab on to.

Unless the table is really large (or the finish really thick), I'd sand it down and re-finish.

Mike
 
I vote For sanding down and restart. As was said the clear (milky white) WB finish will not allow the Oil Poly to amber in its normal fashion.
 
I would expect that the existing poly film on the piece would prevent the oil finish from "popping" the grain which I think might be what you're looking for.

Best of luck with your piece!
 
I may actually be getting the results I want without removing the finish I already have with the help of this forum :thumb:

I received some better instructions on how to apply WB Poly a couple of weeks back, and I also just spent a morning with Leo from this forum going over finishing techniques.

Between those two things I sanded the table top smooth, that was the problem my finish was not smooth, and applied another coat of WB poly.

Tonight I will use the info I got from Leo to finish the top, I already see a big difference.

This site is awesome :clap:
 
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