Fast drying polyurethane

[ohsoloco]

I just picked up a can of Minwax Fast Drying Poly the other day to finish a bed I've been building for the last year  :  So, is that stuff just thinned down polyurethane  ???  I used to mix my poly about 50/50 or 60/40 with mineral spirits for the first coat or two, but this stuff is just too thin.  I gave it just an ounce or two of mineral spirits, but I probably shouldn't have used any at all.  I gave it a nice first coat, but now that it's dried there are so many places where the poly got completely sucked into the wood that it looks like I missed half of the bed  :-\ 

[metalspinner]

I still mix that stuff down 50/50 and treat it like an oil...just keep wiping it on until it won't soak up anymore.  Then wipe it down to remove drips and such.  Repeat several times.  The built up finish has never appealed to me, but the really thin poly IMHO looks just right.

[Sprucegum]

I don't know about the exact product you are using but I would do just like Metal said - no worries about bubbles or runs then.

[ohsoloco]

Yeah, I guess wiping it on may work a little better in this case...I brushed it on.  I'm just hesitant to wipe on a satin poly b/c a few years ago I finished a cherry hutch with 50/50 poly, and when it dried I could see a slight haze of where the cloth swipes were.

[Sprucegum]

If you thin a satin poly the particles that make it satin will not go on evenly and you will get that haze in spots  :(

Just make sure you have good lint-free cloth and you'll do fine.

[low_48]

I like to put on the thin poly in a similar way to french polish. I make a ball of cotton material, usually old t-shirt, about the size of a golf ball or a little bigger. I then wrap it with another piece of t-shirt. I open up the outer piece and get the ball pretty wet. Wrap the outer cover back on and twist it closed on the top. Tap and flatten the ball against a piece of scrap. Now start wiping. The ball acts like a reservoir to hold poly. Just keep adding to the ball and keep wiping. Twist the cover to squeeze the ball and let more poly out. I also always sand with 320 grits between coats. Don't over-wipe it, keep a good wet coat on it and let it flow out.

[WDH]

I use the minwax fast drying satin poly right out of the can.  Fine Woodworking did a review on finishes a while back and this product was a top performer.  I apply it with a foam brush right out of the can.  Dip the foam brush up to the end of the bevel.  Pull it across the wood slow and steady and don't over work it!  It flows out super smooth.  Let dry, then buff with 0000 steel wool.  Then re-apply another coat.  For best results, buff with steel wool and put on a third coat.

If you pull the foam brush slowly, it will lay the poly down such that one stroke will do it.  Then re-dip, and slightly overlap with the next stroke.  You will like it .   

[Dodgy Loner]

I'm not the best finisher in the world, but I would take WDH's advice.  I've seen his woodwork, and the finishes are flawless! 8)

[ohsoloco]

WDH, thanks for the advice about the foam brushes    The first two coats I put on with a bristle brush, and ended up cutting a lot of built up poly off of the undersides of the pieces with a utility knife blade  :( The foam brush put the poly down much smoother, I used less product, and therefore had less drips and puddles  ;)

Do you rub out the final coat with anything?  This is the third coat, but I'm typically not satisfied with the final coat as it is, but I'm always afraid of messing it up and having to re-apply a fourth. 

[metalspinner]

After sanding down my third coat, I usually spray it down with a can of aerosol poly.  This lets me get into the tricky spots with out causing anymore troubles.  You need the cans with the spray tip that sprays flat.  That gives you a nice even flow out of the can.

[WDH]

Once you at your last coat, rub it out very lightly with 0000 steel wool.  Lightly is the operative word here.  Then, rub it down with some paste wax.  I have successfully used the spray poly like metalspinner mentioned, but only on small pieces.

[solodan]

I would do a wash coat first with dewaxed shellac, using the french polishing technique low_48 mentions. This will seal the wood and can be sanded in about an hour. It is the best sanding sealer in my opinion. Then you can apply poly over this, but make sure the shellac is dewaxed. Poly will not adhere to regugar shellac with wax. I like using paste wax as a top coat as well.

[ohsoloco]

That last coat turned out better than I thought, so I may just leave well enough alone  ;)  I'll take some pictures once I deliver the bed 

[WDH]

Looking forward to the pics :D.

[ohsoloco]

It was a little over a year ago this woman first talked to me about building a bed for her.  Got around to measuring for it and getting some details from her back in July or August.  Worked on it some back in the fall, and it sat most of the winter while I spent my time cutting firewood and procrastinating.  Got the bug again and finished the construction, then put it off again for a while cuz I don't care for the sanding part too much  :  It finally warmed up enough that I could put the finish on it (I work in the basement and I wanted to be able to keep the house opened up), and I worked for a while this morning and afternoon getting the rails to snug up real good, and cut the slats and supports for the box spring.  Now I can't wait to get it delivered  :D

The headboard had more curl pop and I expected when I applied the poly.  Hopefully it shows up in the pics. 

[metalspinner]

ohsoloco,
You sound like me with your work habits. :D  Maybe we are long lost brothers or something. :D

[ohsoloco]

I make sure to warn them how long it takes me to get something done.  The last thing I built was a coffee table, and the woman was thrilled that I had it done in six months  :D  Of course, I have several other projects I've started and not finished since starting the bed  :-\

[WDH]

Don't be so recalcitrant with the pics ;D.

[jpgreen]

Just this week I tried some Minwax wipe on Poly in a natural satin on some snag pine wood with light brown heart I milled for window sils and it came out beautiful.  Didn't darken the pine hardly at all, and is perfect for what I needed. I've been looking for a finish like this for some time..  8)

[WDH]

The Minwax stuff is really good.

[ohsoloco]

I really like using that fast drying stuff now, applying it how WDH described.  Well, I have to finish some white pine paneling in the house, so I went to pick some up at Lowes yesterday.  Does that stuff only come in quarts  ???  The only gallon pails of poly were the "high build" ones.  Bought one of those...I'll probably have to thin it down  :

BTW, I took some pics of the bed when I delivered it, but the bedroom was so small I didn't get very good shots  :-\  I also need to get them on another computer to resize/compress them, and post them. 

[WDH]

I wasn't going to aggravate you anymore about the pics... :.

[ohsoloco]

Yeah, I figured you gave up on them, but I haven't yet  :D

[WDH]

 8)

[ohsoloco]

The last time you got on me about posting the pics I had to visit dictionary.com  :D

[WDH]

Well, I am trying not to be a pesterer.  I figured it was a pons asinorum ;D.

[PC-Urban-Sawyer]

Now, now WDH. I don't care what kind of bridge you build, any fool, even if his name was Euclid  ;D, would know that some things just take a while to figure out. And sometimes life gets in the way...

[WDH]

Just so you know the context of pons asinorum in my post, it is a problem that is too difficult to be solved with the level of information available.

Pons Asinorum (Latin for "Bridge of Asses") is the name given to Euclid's fifth proposition in Book 1 of his Elements of geometry:

In isosceles triangles the angles at the base equal one another, and, if the equal straight lines are produced further, then the angles under the base equal one another.

Pappus provided the shortest proof of the first part, that if the triangle is ABC with AB being the same length as AC, then comparing it with the triangle ACB (the mirror image of triangle ABC) will show that two sides and the included angle at A of one are equal to the corresponding parts of the other, so by the fourth proposition (on congruent triangles) the angles at B and C are equal. Euclid's proof was longer and involved the construction of additional triangles.

It takes its name as the first real test in the Elements of the intelligence of the reader and as a bridge to the harder propositions that followed. Its location in that text is much more advanced than where the problem is posed in present-day geometry textbooks for high-school students.

After PC-Urban-Sawyers response, I realized that my post might be intrepreted as an insult or demeaning, which was not the intent.  No offense intended :-\.

[jpgreen]

Hmmm... I wonder what that wipe on poly would look like on those Asinorum's?..  ;D

[TexasTimbers]

After sanding down my third coat, I usually spray it down with a can of aerosol poly.

I might be doing something wrong but I find that the sheen in the aeresol cans do not come close to the same alledged sheens in the can. That picnic table I made for the VFD auction - I had to add nother final coat over it because I tried to use the high gloss spar urethane out of the can. It looked semi-gloss at best.
But as I say I may have been doing something wrong.

ohsoloco I don't know if anyone has mentioned it yet but we really like pictures here on the FF ;D

[PC-Urban-Sawyer]

After PC-Urban-Sawyers response, I realized that my post might be intrepreted as an insult or demeaning, which was not the intent.  No offense intended :-\.

WDH

My response was intended to be somewhat of a joke based on my quick research into the meaning of pons asinorum. I hope noone took it otherwise.

It's always good to learn something new. I think I may a learned (again) to think a bit harder before putting my words down in a post.

PC-Urban-Sawyer

[metalspinner]

Insert Quote
Quote from: metalspinner on May 05, 2007, 01:48:22 PM
After sanding down my third coat, I usually spray it down with a can of aerosol poly.

I might be doing something wrong but I find that the sheen in the aeresol cans do not come close to the same alledged sheens in the can. That picnic table I made for the VFD auction - I had to add nother final coat over it because I tried to use the high gloss spar urethane out of the can. It looked semi-gloss at best.
But as I say I may have been doing something wrong.

I should have mentioned that I only use semi-flat poly.  I have not tryed this technique with any other sheen. :-\

While we are talking about sheens...

If I use a satin coat as a base, then apply a gloss over that base coat once dry, how will that effect the gloss appearance?

[TexasTimbers]

That much I do know. The high gloss over semi or satin/egshell will  be jsut as high gloos as on top of another high gloss. I did this on the picnic table in fact because I started out with a can each and planned to use the high gloss last from the beginning. You can't tell the differnece.

[ohsoloco]

I almost feel bad posting these photos...I think they're horrible  :-\  This computer monitor stinks and makes pics look dark, so I'm not sure exactly how pathetic they really are, but having the bed sitting under open windows certainly didn't help  :(

Walnut bed with hybrid poplar slats to keep the boxspring from slipping off the 1-1/2" wide cleats inside the perimeter of the bed.  These are the only 4 pics I took.  The live edge headboard showed quite a bit of curl (the actual bark side of the board is facing the wall)...can you see any of it  ???

[WDH]

Ohso,

The curl is really beautiful.  You did a great job on that bed.  That live edge headboard is very creative ;).  I like it  ;D.

[beenthere]

Pics look good, but # 3 and 4 show the grain in the headboard the best.
Nice design to show off the walnut headboard.

Are the rails 3/4" walnut? 

[pigman]

 8)
Looks great ohsoloco.    I really like the natural edge headboard. I will have to learn to build unique furniture like your bed.

Bob

[ohsoloco]

Thanks for the kind words    This monitor must be worse than I thought.  

Yes, the rails are 3/4" walnut, and I found out that is the absolute minimum thickness to use on the bed rail fasteners that I used.  I picked two of the flattest pieces in the lumber pile that I could so I could completely flatten one face on the jointer and still have enough thickness to end up with 3/4" out of the planer.  In hindsight I should've just planed both sides to get the thickest pieces I could, since they moved after planing anyway (they had maybe 1/4" of sweep along the face of them).  Had to build a jig to fit over the ends of the rails to rout the mortises for the fasteners, and there was maybe 1/16" of meat on either side of the mortise (luckily they only had to be about 3/16" deep).  Slipped with the chisel once and took a little slice off the face of the rail, but was able to glue it back on to a virtually invisible fix  ;)

Wish I had a pic of the foot board.  There's a nicely centered arch of sapwood on the bottom edge.  I can't see cutting an arch into a perfectly nice board when nature can do a better job than me.  The customer had a big grin on her face when I set up the bed, so I must've done good.

[Sprucegum]

Yes, I say you done good, and the pics aren't too bad either considering the light you had  ;)

I built a bed with slats like that and just threw the mattress on, no box springs.

[SwampDonkey]

Nice looking bed ohsoloco. I use water based Varathane - Diamond Wood Finish on softer wood. Well I say I use it, but it's a new product to me and I only built a couple items last winter with it. I'm careful with the foam brushes because if you reuse between coats you can get foam specs in the finish. 

I do like Minwax products, just apply as instructed and things should come out fine.