ive been working a piece of birch for the bed of my "RATROD" truck the past few days.its been a bitch, to be honest with you,maybe im dumb but the shit gets runs,it gives an uneven finish,and it takes forever to dry,im using a URETHANE as recommended from the lady from Lowes who seemed like she knew wht she was talking about.ive sanded between every coat.other than regular wood working ,ive never gotten into the FINISHING .it just seems like im going backwards..kinda..ive been wondering while im doing this,it seems like i could just shoot some automotive clear over it and be done with it,can you do this? can i BUFF out the urethane ,by hand or with a buffer??? i want it to look like the bar top at Hooters(minus the name engravings). i was hoping it would come out ok,cuz i have a set of lawn chairs from the 60's? that are aluminum and wood slatted and a nother wood project id like to do if this comes out good... what do i do?? im sure there's a better aproach thanks if not,can i sand it and BUFF it out?
That bar top finish is an epoxy.I'm guessing your using Polyurethane,which can be sprayed.The first coat might give an uneven finish,because the grain of the wood might absorb the finish unevenly.Automotive clear will work,probably need more than 1 coat.
unkle,ive been brushing the shit on,which i thought was gonna look shitty to begin with,but thats what the can said to do,,,the whole time i was thinking "man,i can shoot some clear over this and be done with it" so i guess i messed up,huh? hahaha
If you need to brush,use one of those cheap disposable foam brushes.Idealy use a brush wider than the board.Brush it on flat,and let it dry flat.Then do the other side.
In order to get a good finish, youmust use at least two coats, three or four better. Sand with 400 or so paper between coats. You don't want to remove the paint, just smooth it down, just like metal.
i laid the 4th coat down tonight.the first two coats i was sanding in between coats with 180(the can sez 220) then i switched to 400 wet sanding,it smoothes it out pretty good,do you treat it like regular paint? can i rubb it out? like i said ,i dont know what the hell im doing,hahaha
warning--LONG process! sand the wood or existing finish with 100-120 grit paper with flat hard or firm sandig block to get smooth FLAT suface. Then vaccum clean and vaccum again the part,area,yourself.last use tack rag to wipe everything down. Use top quality spar varnish. Use a small 4 inch foam roller to lay on an even THIN coat for an area about2-3 foot the full width of the board you are working then use a 3 inch foam brush to TIP out the bubbles from the roller. then repeat the2-3foot and TIP that area back into the previous. Don't roll on to big an area because surface will start to set and not flow togather smoothly. DO NOT try to correct anything in the previous areas by rebrushing BAD mess will result.Now when that coat dries sand again with 220 recoat then 320 recoat-sand-recoat---atleast 4 times best 6 to 10 times.Be sure to clean and tack rag before all coats,do not pore unused varnish back in can,always use fresh rollers and brushes.I use alum. foil to line a roller pan and small amount of varnish adding as needed. Oh --- plan on repeating next year. Good luck Bob PS sanding between coats best done with use of sanding block .
cool,thanks for the tips,i need all i can get!it doesnt seem like hard work,but like you said its a LONG process... thanks again to everybody
Use only good quality Marine Spar Varnish. Man o war is OK, I use it. Interlux is better if you're rich enough... Don't get any of that "low VOC" shit they sell at Home Depot. It won't spread enough to not sag and is so thick if it looks good it doesn't dry.. Avoid it like the plague. You will probably have to go to a marine supply like West Marine for quarts of "the Good Stuff" They can't sell the non-low-voc real stuff in a gallon any more. so buy it in quarts. Qfter the 4th coat a quart will do two coats anyway. But I repeat, the low voc stuff is shit, I found out the hard, three days scraping it off and starting over way. Brush from dry into wet but don't rebrush an already brushed area as said above. I add a brushing liquid to the varnish to help it spread. I use either Flood Penetrol Quality paint conditioner or Interlux solvent 333 Brushing liquid. Bare wood needs at least 8 coats, each sanded, just for a first year base the stuff won't dry if you don't sand between coats. Yes block sand them. If you get flies in the varnish, when it's half set leave them alone till Tuesday then dust the dead bodies off with a piece of soft burlap. Don't switch from urethane to varnish. strip it and start over. Or just wait two years and it'll self strip itself! The bed on my truck is varnished Birch. probably 20 coats on it now and it needs 2-3 more right now. I put a carpenters level on the bed and jack up the front of the truch till the bed is level. The varnish can't run anywhere if it's level! You must make an annual ritual of varnishing an additional coat or two or it'll go to hell and need stripping and starting over. Every 6 months if the truck is left outside all the time. and it down one afternoon and varnish it the next morning as soon as the morning dew/fog lifts. that way it'll be mosty dry befor the afternoon breeze kicks the flies up. Use a "varnish brush" 3-4" very soft natural bristle. clean it out by suspending it in a coffee can of mineral spirits turpentine, paint thinner and brushing the varnish out of it with a regular steel wire brush. I just keep mine hanging in a covered can of thinner all the time. keeps it "ready" and it never dries out so it never gets hard. It's no where near the welding equipment!
they make this stuff called envirotex-lite pour on high gloss finish(or 50 coat)..one coat equalls 50 coats of varnish,they use it on bars etc. you pour it on and let it run off,kind of like those old clocks made from a slice of a tree...they sell it at ac-moore...the back rail of my rpu cab is done in it with inlaid dice and it rules...quality product,i'll post pics
butt see this link, woodie guy finishing techniques by a friend, and fellow woodie guy rick mack.. later sawzall
I'd like to add one thing to Dr J's good advice: don't shake the can to "mix" the varnish. Stir it or you'll get it full of air bubbles which will screw up your hoped to be smooth finish. I used Man of War - from Home Depot - on the oak bows of my roadster. Three coats and after 6-7 years they're doing very well. Granted, the roadster gets garaged, but it does get out a lot and has gone through a few rainy day trips. If the weather is real hot you can slow the varnish drying time down by setting the varnish can in a bowl of ice cubes. Same trick works well with fiberglass resin when you want to slow down the "kick." That's a nice pic of the woodwork on Doc's truck, but it really doesn't do it justice. You need to see it in person to really appreciate the wood.
I got that Hooters bar look on a dresser I refinished using the water based clear urethane they sell at Lowes/Home Depot. 3 steps, but it took about 10 days. here's the ritual... Step 1. Come home from work at 5, sand it with medium (180-200?) tack rag, brush on a thin coat. Only use a brush, only one direction, with the grain. go eat dinner. Step 2. at 10:00 if it was a dry night, I could sand it again and put another coat, if not, just brush on another coat. Repeat until desired depth is acheived. (mine was 10 nights) step 3. wait 2 days, wet sand with 400, put on last coat with a foam brush one direction. I didn't need it any smoother, but I'm sure you could do a 600 step, then 1200 step and polish with car polish to bring up a shine. Nice thing about the water-based stuff, In FL you can do it in a back room, in the A/C, and not kill off your pets. Probably have to re-do a few coats a year with that stuff, I'd use the marine varnish (Petit), probably only need to do it every other year. I have a little sailboat that has the marine varnish on some of the trim and seat, it has lasted 4 years and just started to peel. It sits in the FL sun and mold all year. P.S. the epoxy stuff leave HUGE drips along the edges, if these edges are hidden under some trim, great. Feel under the edge of a table or bar at hooters (wear gloves, the best thing you can hope to find under there is gum) it is rough and drippy.
wow,,thanks for all the great tips! you guys rule. Dr.J your bed looks beautiful.must have ALOT of time into it. sawzall,i bookmarked that site,plenty of great info there as well.
[ QUOTE ] wow,,thanks for all the great tips! you guys rule. Dr.J your bed looks beautiful.must have ALOT of time into it. sawzall,i bookmarked that site,plenty of great info there as well. [/ QUOTE ] Thanks, and C9 too. Did I say my bed is all Birch too? What C9 said about air is important... I try not to rake the brusk on the can opening because this squeezes bubbles out of the bristles into the varnish too. As far as hot days, it needs to be 70ºF or it won't spread easy. if you leave it too thick it won't dry and will reain a gummy mess. So take the warning abut hot weather to be about over 90º kind of hot.
Wish I woulda asked you guys before I brushed 30 coats of urethane onto the new computer desk I built from a pretty rough old school teacher's desk. No joke, airfiled the new top till it felt smooth, then dealt with suckage for about 7 coats before dealing with Still uneven grain for another 23 before I got it flat! Glad I wasn't that nutso about the new veneered sides being perfectly flat!!!!
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