Bill Simpson
Member
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- 1,756
A couple of years ago my friend asked me to help him build an entertainment cabinet. So I built it in his garage/barn/shop Stove warmed on cold days. Anyway we built the thing and then he wanted it color matched to another piece in the room. I mixed up color pigments and BLO (my normal concoction) an all went well, I applyed and left the finishing up to him. He put several coats of Poly then carried it into his house and so on.... Time goes by and this summer when he was doing some additional remodel he noticed the piece was peeling and not really alligator but more of a scabies skin infection look. Help he plead. so yesterday I used a Carbide cabinet scraper and removed the finish but the BLO was still sticky. Couldn't sand as the residue clogged the discs ASAP. Washed each piece with Mineral Spirits and after it dried I was able to sand. So....
I can't figure why it didn't cure. One thought was that the piece was too cold when he applied the poly and the BLO hadn't dried. But it only happened to the top sectionand both were done at the same time??? But I do remember that the Poplar pieces foir the face of the cabinet (the problem pieces) were purchased new as I had on hand (for a good number of years) enough Poplar for the base face pieces. Was the "New" poplar higher MC and then did't absorb the BLO and prevent it from curing properly, With higher MC did cold nights in the garage freeze inside the wood? and then it was too cold for the finish? Was it a bad batch of BLO, if so, why not the rest of the cabinet/ Questions I don't know but thought I would get some opinions.
BTW, I found that the 3M Blue discs resisted the clogging best and I went to BORG and got a 10 pack to be able to get down to raw wood again. Raining today so the staining will wait for a dry-er climate (don't want to have to go through this again.
I can't figure why it didn't cure. One thought was that the piece was too cold when he applied the poly and the BLO hadn't dried. But it only happened to the top sectionand both were done at the same time??? But I do remember that the Poplar pieces foir the face of the cabinet (the problem pieces) were purchased new as I had on hand (for a good number of years) enough Poplar for the base face pieces. Was the "New" poplar higher MC and then did't absorb the BLO and prevent it from curing properly, With higher MC did cold nights in the garage freeze inside the wood? and then it was too cold for the finish? Was it a bad batch of BLO, if so, why not the rest of the cabinet/ Questions I don't know but thought I would get some opinions.
BTW, I found that the 3M Blue discs resisted the clogging best and I went to BORG and got a 10 pack to be able to get down to raw wood again. Raining today so the staining will wait for a dry-er climate (don't want to have to go through this again.