Box Elder - Follow up Question regarding Wipe on Poly

Dan Mosley

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Palm Springs, Ca
A turner friend of mine that I write back and forth with on all sorts of woodturning topics suggested that I try to finish the box Elder using a method he has used on similar types of wood (soft, punky, weak grain etc....) and finish it with Wipe on Poly ............which I have never tried but I do have a container of it so I thought I would give it a try.

I took the test pc of Box Elder that I had been playing with which has been sitting out drying the past 5 days and give it a try. Used my moisture meter and it said it was 5-7%..........Good Enough............LOL

I sanded to 220 - applied one good coat of Min Wax Wood Conditioner and let it dry for a couple hrs.....(Container says 1hr).... Then sanded it back with 220, then sprayed couple light coats of shellac on 30min apart (approx).............At this point he said to let it sit for 24hrs but,.... I didn't...........It sat for about 6 hrs. I then sanded it again with 220, then wet sanded with 320, 400, 500 using Mineral Spirits (not sure it that was the best medium to use but it seemed to work)......Wiped down well and applied first coat of Wipe on Poly very light and it seemed to dry very quickly and drag a bit when I was putting it on. I used a cut pc of old shirt......4hrs later knocked it down with 0000 - cleaned it off well and applied another coat - this coat went on much easier - Now sitting to dry for 24hrs.....................
After 24hrs - he said to sand with 600 and coat again - let sit for 24hrs and repeat for a total of 5 coats - let sit a week and buff with WD lightly - then hand apply Renissance and buff off..............


Observation - The Wood Conditioner did make the wood much stiffer, sanding was normal and I knocked it down well - It also works very well on Pine

Question - Never used Wipe on Poly - First coat still soaked up fast and felt like I was dragging the cloth on the surface
Second coat smoother but still see drag lines lightly on the finish............anybody doing it differently ???
 

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Dan,
When I use the WOP, the first coat and sometimes the second will act as a sanding sealer... I usually put the first on, let it sit over night, sand back a bit to smooth the surface, then put on the second coat... let it sit and sand back again... I'll usually put a couple more coats on the piece and let it sit before sanding back, then adding two more coats, sanding between... usually wind up with 5 or 6 coats, and if I forget where I am with the finish, maybe more.

Most of the time I like the satin finish on my pieces, but I'll put gloss on for two or three coats before I switch to the satin...
 
I do pretty much what chuck does. I skip the sanding sealer and flood the first coat of WOP. When it won't soak up anymore I wipe off the excess. I do this for the second coat also letting the piece sit for 24 hrs between coats. I sand back each coat. Then I start putting on light with a piece of T-shirt. After the third coat I use 0000 steel wool between coats. The last and final coat I don't steel wool. I let it dry for a week then buff. After buffing I apply Ren wax and buff. 90% of the time I use gloss to the finish. Sometimes l apply 2 or 3 coats of gloss then 2 or 3 coats of gloss.
 
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