aside from the wait time is there a major diff with Polyacrylic or polyurethane, I've used polyurethane on a lot of stuff, for the most part I'm happy with it, it just takes forever to finish a project with the wait time between coats
anyone have experience with this?
Richard
In my uses of water based vs oil based, the difference is the resulting colour.
Water based are completely clear. Oil based result in a slight colouration. To some, including myself, this is how wood is "supposed" to look.
If the wood is being stained then the slight colouring of oil based may not make much difference.
I particularly like the way unstained cherry looks with oil based varnish compared to water based.
A big difference between these is the ability to sand.
Water based is not sandable until cured which is days. The coat is "dry" in minutes, but is not cured for several days. Even when cured the coat is sandable, but not able to be feathered. I recently had to sand an unstained maple top and ended up with "holes" in the coat. It took several coats to fix this.
Oil based take hours to dry, but once dry are cured and sandable. I have found oil based sand and feathers very well.
I use both oil based and water based depending on the application/wood etc.
Water based is MUCH better to have the brush strokes disappear than oil, and much easier for clean-up.
If you want to apply water based over oil based stain, make sure the stain is fully dry before applying the acryllic.
Dave Paine.
richard,
just a thought....
if you have a sprayer (and i don't assume that you do), consider using a water-based poly made for spraying. i use the target coatings super-clear poly, and the stuff is fantastic. couldn't be easier to use or look better once dried. i'll never go back to the store bought stuff.
good luck,
--- dz
Richard Clements wrote:
I have used it on wood-turning projects. After sanding to about
400 grit I lay on a coat of polycrylic. In an hour it is ready to sand again and makes a nice sanding sealer. Each time it is recoated I sand lightly with a finer paper. The last coat I allow to dry overnight and lightly steel wool it and apply wax. I like it for this purpose. Not much experience with other type uses.
colouration.
That's no longer the case. I've been using Fuhr finishes which are available in clear or with a slight amber tint. The range of tints in water-based ranges from slightly blue to pale yellow, and can be modified further with a bit of water-based dye.
I can sand and re-coat my water-based finish in 30 minutes or so (and this timing falls within the manufacturers guidlines).
I think you'll find water-based finishes have improved quite a bit in the last couple of years.
I've used gallons of this stuff on T&G ceiling boards. No complaints, easy sprayer cleanup and dries "dust free" very quickly. Very little color change. Be aware that this stuff is no where as near "water proof" as oil based poly is.
One thing to be aware of (if it matters) is (according to Flexner IIRC) that "water based" and "oil base" "polyurethane" are almost 100% different compounds. Chemically they have almost zero in common.
-Bruce
I made a ping-pong table finished with water-based blue and white stain and then polycrylic. It was a real pain to apply, since it dries so quickly. The surface was so large that I had to work quickly just to be able to get a coat on without lap marks. I much prefer oil based finish, which you can work with a little to get the brush marks, etc. out. The water based stuff was very unforgiving. Though it is clear. On a smaller project, or with a sprayer, it may be more manageable.
Charlie
Ummm...which "polyurethane"? There are both oil and water base, and variations within. Some oil poly dries to sand (light sand to recoat) in maybe 4 hours or less, others take overnight. Some water base poly can be recoated in 30 min (for the first few coats). The Mixwax Polyacrylic appears similar to some of these, with perhaps a slight shorter recoat time. The cured hardness will be different, scuffing slight easier, but a hard scratch will look similar in both. The Polyacrylic also appears a little more tolerant of application. Don't know how well (comparatively) it holds a gloss.
Unless it's going to have heavy use or liquid spills, I think you'll find it a good choice.
GerryG
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