How do finish water based poly from Compliant?

[Jeff]

I would like to fine sand the finish and then polish and buff the finish. What size grit sand paper should be started and what componds to finish the job? thanks

[MikeG]

Starting grit for finishing the finish (rubbing out) depends on how good the surface is to start with. The first grit should be coarse enough to to remove ALL the flaws as efficiently as possible. In other words it can be anything from 80 girt to 220 grit.

Everything after the first grit is only to refine *take out the scratch marks from the previous grit) the surface NOT to take out flaws.

Assuming a finish that only needed some light work with 220 grit paper I would then follow up with 00, 000, 0000 steel wood then move to an automotive rubbing compound followed by an automotive polishing compound. Stopping when I get the gloss I want.

For those that want to jump on the above, NO, steel wool is not a problem if used on the fully cured final coat of a finish. It is a problem for indeterminate coats but not the cured finish coat.

Note, rubbing out is not done on oil finishes and I don't usually have to use anything but the automotive products on a properly applied shellac or nitrocellulose lacquer finish.

Further note, rubbing out the finish is a process of removing the flaws from the finish then removing the scratches from that task with finer and finer grits of abrasives until the desired look is obtained. Any regime using finer and finer grits of any kind of abrasive will do the job. I use steel wool because I find sandpaper loads up too fast and steel wool is more economical.

Good luck

[Ian Wheeler]

I recently finished my bedside table project (Maple with Walnut trim). Finished as follows:

Sand - 80 - 150 -220 SealCoat (to raise grain) - sand 220 WB poly (2 coats on body, 3 on top - both sides) - light sanding with 220 betwen coats. Light sanding with 220, wet sand with 320 Wet/Dry paper. Clear Butchers wax rubbed in with 0000 steel wool. Buff out with old tee shirt.

I'm really happy with the finish this produced - I was not going for a high gloss french polish look and didn't get it - the finish is more subdued, like a satin finish.

To get a high gloss you'll need to use the automotive compounds MikeG suggests. Working up though the steel wools is a good idea, but I only had

0000.

Unfortunately, my wife spilt nail polish remover on one of the tops (she wiped in up immediately) - looks like the damage is superficial, I'm hoping steel wool and wax will bring the finish back.

[Wes Stewart]

|I recently finished my bedside table project (Maple with Walnut trim). |Finished as follows: | |Sand - 80 - 150 -220 |SealCoat (to raise grain) - sand 220 |WB poly (2 coats on body, 3 on top - both sides) - light sanding with 220 |betwen coats. |Light sanding with 220, wet sand with 320 Wet/Dry paper. |Clear Butchers wax rubbed in with 0000 steel wool. |Buff out with old tee shirt.

Similar to what I'm currently doing. Trying to do a "Furniture grade" bathroom vanity. Carcase Birch ply, face Alder.

Birch finished with one coat Enduro Sanding Sealer and 3-4 coats satin poly. Sanded 220 between coats and rubbed out with grey pad for finish.

So far, Alder sanded 220, wash coat 1 lb shellac, sanded 220, 1 coat SS, sanded 220, 2 coats poly finish, wet sand 600 and buff with grey pad.

In my case, I'm not after high gloss and the finish with the pad is fine. I was spraying with a HVLP gun and a tip larger than recommended. A lot of the sanding was to level the finish. It also agravated an old shoulder injury and I'm on vacation from this project.

| |I'm really happy with the finish this produced - I was not going for a high |gloss french polish look and didn't get it - the finish is more subdued, |like a satin finish. | |To get a high gloss you'll need to use the automotive compounds MikeG |suggests. Working up though the steel wools is a good idea, but I only had |0000. | |Unfortunately, my wife spilt nail polish remover on one of the tops (she |wiped in up immediately) - looks like the damage is superficial, I'm hoping |steel wool and wax will bring the finish back.

Yep, I know the feeling. Perhaps it was naiveté, but I expected better resistance to chemicals with this product. I prefinished the ply and used poly glue, taping the finished area to minimize squeeze out. This didn't work out as good as hoped for and there was a bit of foamed glue under the tape. Alcohol is the solvent for cleanup and when I used it, it attacked the finish. Fortunately this was in an area where a stack of drawers goes so it doesn't show.

Sooo, where I am now is after talking to Lois at CSS I've purchased some cross linking additive that is supposed to offer much better chemical and abrasion resistance. I also splurged on a second spray guy with more appropriate tip size. (I hope).

When my arm gets feeling better we'll see how this works out.

Wes

[David]

If your question is limited to what grits and compounds to use AFTER the final gloss coat is applied, I'm appalled at the responses that mention the use of 80 grit. I wouldn't take 80 grit to a final finish unless I wanted to ruin it. I start at a minimum of 320, then to 400. When I don't want a gloss finish, I use gray and white pads also. For gloss you can use 600, 1000, 1500 (wet), and THEN apply any of a number of automotive polishing compounds. I use Meguiar products, such as their swirl remover as the LAST product used to polish to a HIGH gloss. Go to an automotive finish supply store for a complete inventory of Meguiar's products. Or you can use pumices and rottenstone...

If you can't remove polishing residue from open pores, consider applying a water based dye to hide the discoloration. It won't affect the overall color of course, because you've got it sealed with the poly. If you are shooting for a high gloss, I figure you probably don't have any open pores, as that would distract from the finish.

David

Jeff wrote:

[GerryG]

[Mike Marlow]

Actually, he did. His original post was...

"I would like to fine sand the finish and then polish and buff the finish. What size grit sand paper should be started and what componds to finish the job? thanks"

I too was taken back by the recommendations for 80 grit, 220 grit and other equally aggressive grits. The OP can easily post again and let everyone know just where he is in the process, but it looks pretty clear to me that he's looking for how to finish the finish.

I would not start with anything more aggressive than 600 and only then if there were gross anomolies in the finish. Even with gross anomolies in the finish, I'd be very careful with 600. 1000 grit will block down quite a lot of unevenness. I'm not much of a user of steel wool, but that's because I do a fair amount of automotive painting and one does not want steel wool anywhere near automotive paint jobs. I just work my way up through sandpapers. 1000 grit will act pretty quickly to knock down dust nibs, will flatten out brush strokes, and leaves a surface that can be buffed or polished quite well. 1200 or 1500 will make the buffing or polishing easier but not everyone keeps that stuff around. I should think that for the steel wool users, that 0000 would dress it nicely too, and leave the surface ready for a rubbing compound. I use medium cut rubbing compound and swirl mark remover and have had good results from that.

[Jeff]

Sorry about not telling you about what type of sheen I am looking for. The poly will be sprayed on at least 2 coats to begin with then sanded. Another coat or 2 will be applied. Then as with lacquer the table will be sanded to remove any orange peel and dust. The final sheen should be a gloss smooth finish. The wood is quarter sawn oak and wavy oak (this was filled). About 2 inches around the outside edge of the table is sprayed black. The reason for the high sheen is that it brings out the wavy pattern and the quarter seen oak. I was not sure if the table should be finished as if it was sprayed on using lacquer and how this is done. If you have some names of products in mind that would be great. thanks in advance

[Mike Marlow]

I'd treat it just like I was spraying lacquer. I wouldn't sand between coats though. I'd build up the coats, waiting only for tack time between coats. There really is no point to spraying on two coats, sanding and then spraying on more coats. I'd spray on a tack coat, then I'd spray medium to wet coats, depending on how it's going on, until I got the build up I wanted. Let it dry and then hit it with 1000 grit or what ever you're going to use to knock down dust nibs, etc. Follow that with rubbing compound and swirl mark remover if you need that. Like I said in my earlier post, you can use 1200 or 1500 to knock down the dust nibs or you can follow the 1000 with either of them. It will get you closer to the finished look, but the rubbing compound will buff the marks from 1000 grit just fine.

[David]

If he is using Enduro Poly (which is what Compliant sells), sanding between coats is required for proper results according to the distributor. I've been reluctant to challenge them on this point, so I sand between coats, albeit in a cursory manner.

David

Mike Marlow wrote:

[Mike Marlow]

Gotchya. I've never used the product so I was unaware of that. I'd certainly follow the manufacturer's recommendations as well. I might check with them to see if you can spray additional coats after each coat tacks though. Generally, once a coat dries (in most paints and finishes) you have to scruff it for proper adhesion of additional coats, but if the product will take additional coats after just tack time then it's likely not going to require that scruffing.

[David]

I agree completely with your comments, Mike. I've pressed the distributor on more than one occasion about skipping sanding. So far, they won't budge. Personally, I think that one could get by without sanding if they re-coat at the proper time interval. However, since I'm counting on them being more familiar with their product's requirements than I am, I wouldn't take it upon myself to suggest to others that they deviate from the proscribed schedule.

Another course of action might be for the OP to devote additional time to testing various methods of application to see what seems to work well. The only fly in the ointment being that finish failures may not manifest themselves upon immediate observation.

David

Mike Marlow wrote:

[TWS]

I am not sure but I think the reason for the scruff sanding is based on the recommendation that WB Poly needs to completely dry before the next coat or you will get moisture trapped under the upper coats with cloudy results. If the base hardens then the scruff sand will be necessary to get the best bond.

TWS

[GerryG]

[Mike Marlow]

Agreed. When it comes to finishes today, I stick to what the manufacturer says. Sometimes you can get additional information out of them and sometimes you can't - as in this case. So - I'd be doing the extra sanding. Nah... I'd probably try a couple of test pieces so that the next time I could do it my way...