Folks, I need a little help

[Shogun]

I am finishing up a table for my girlfriend for our wedding, but having never made furniture before I'm not sure what to do. I coated everything with 3 coats of sanding sealer, sanding in between lightly so it stayed smooth and was careful not to sand it all off. Now I have 5 coats of poly on it, but had to stop because every where the grain is the poly isn't taking, almost like it's seperating and it almost looks orange peeley. now i have a lot of sanding to do, and was considering applying more sanding sealer over the polly after i sand. Can any one tell mewhy this happens and the best way to prevent it. I would also appreciate any advice on how to fix this piece before its too late, if it isn't allready. Thanks.

[Russ C]

Sanding sealers contain a soap-like lubricant that makes the sanding of the first coat easier and faster, but they weaken the bond of the poly finish. So you?re better off not using a sanding sealer under poly. Also polyurethane bonds especially poorly to sanding sealers, so most manufacturers of polyurethane discourage their use. Furthermore, polyurethane sands easily, so there isn?t any need for a sanding sealer.

Nevertheless, the existence of primers and sanding sealers (and the recent addition of ?SealCoat,? a dewaxed shellac from Zinsser, marketed for use as a ?sealer? under polyurethane) have created a belief among some that something has to be put under the polyurethane to make it bond better, but in fact this is just not true.

I never use anything under poly when I use it other than stain, that is if the customer wants a particular color.

Sorry but you might have to sand it back down to the bare wood and start all over again.

[Rapid Roger]

You need to sand the table back to natural wood and re coat with the polyurethane a coat or two.
All the sanding sealer (or shellac in my case) does is to fill the pores in the wood so that the pores don't suck up too much stain or finish and cause blotching. Some hard woods don't need to be sealed with anything, but some of the more open pore woods like oak or pine really should be sealed before staining or finishing so that you get a nice smooth color over all.
I know that it seems dumb on my part to cut the shellac 50/50 with alcohol, slop it on, let it dry for an hour or so, and go back and sand the whole thing down and then stain but, believe me it does make a difference.

Rog

 

Two tables that I made the first of the month for my neighbors. Red oak and all mortise and tenon joints, no metal fasteners, just Titebond hide glue.

Rog 

[GrayBeard]

Last summer I inherited a dining room table made entirely of native Missouri oak approximately 90 years ago.
My friend's daughter was going to give it away!!!!

I took it and sanded it to bare wood, stained it with Minwax Golden Oak stain and applied 5 coats of Minwax Polyurethane varnish, sanding it with 600 grit between the first 4 coats.

after the 4th coat I polished it with a common paper grocery bag and then applied a final coat of Minwax Poly.

It looks fantastic and is totally impervious to water.

Try it!

~~~GB~~~

[Shogun]

Thanks for the advice guys. Looks like I have some sanding to do. Do any of you know why the polly seems to "separate over the grain? the orange peel look is because it looks thinner over the grain than the rest of the wood.

[ShadowB6]

Wow, thanks for this thread guys. I just learned a lot by following it.

Mike