need help with some questiosn - refinishing kitchen cabinets

[timaishu]

I made the huge mistake of deciding to refinish my kitchen cabinets. My mistake I mean, good lord this is time consuming, and its no fun the food and dishes spread out across three rooms. Its been like this for 4 weeks now.

Anyhow, I already scraped and sanded and applied the stain last weekend and then applied the first coat of polyurethane last weeks as well.

Here is where my question lies, I understand I should sand between coats of poly. I am just not sure how much to sand. There are some rough spots and from my research, it seems I should try to make it totally smooth?

I am afraid of wearing through the coating and scuffing it so much that the scratches will show through on the second coat. Some parts I was able to smooth out with very little pressure from my 220 foam sanding block without marring the surface. Others though are going to take more pressure it seems, and on a test spot, its starting to make the finish turn kind of white and its not smooth yet. I am worried about these spots, should I really try to make it smooth? If yes, will the scratches show through on the second coat?

 

[Just02896]

You just want to lightly scuff the clear so each subsequent layer will adhere properly. I use scotchbrite pads to rough up each coat for the next. No need to sand the last coat of poly!

 

[timaishu]

What about smoothness though? One thing I cannot find is if I don't make it smooth on the first coat, will that spot remain unsmooth on the second or will it cover it up?

I have no trouble with the idea of just roughing it up to give the second coat something to stick to. I am just worried how smooth I need to make it between coats. And if I sand it to a point of giving it what milky white appearance, will those scratches be noticeable under the second coat.

 

[Just02896]

The surface should have been smooth before you started staining and applying poly. If you cannot fill the roughness with poly you will either have to live with it or start over with a smooth surface, re-stain, and re-poly. I'm assuming your working with oak.?

 

[timaishu]

The surface should have been smooth before you started staining and applying poly. If you cannot fill the roughness with poly you will either have to live with it or start over with a smooth surface, re-stain, and re-poly. I'm assuming your working with oak.?

We are not sure. The cabinets are 30 years old, we are guessing birtch. The large sides are laminates though. We sanded the crap out of them and actually went through in one spot, so we decided to stop. But it was quite smooth after, some spots were a little rough, but not as rough as they are now with poly. I am not sure though if the rougher spots are in the same places where the poly feels rough.

The reason I believe it to be the poly though is all of the surfaces were rough after. All of them. I used a 220 foam sanding block and with very little pressure, was able to smooth out a majority of it, but some spots like I mentioned are still rough.

 

[Rayner]

Bare timber always tends to 'furr up' when something goes on it unfortunately, hardwood is a pain because it has hard grain and soft grain, it's like having a really soft respray on part of a hard paint car but in strips of hard, soft, hard, soft etc.

Best thing to do is make sure it's 100% cured and rub it back as far as it needs to go, if it's going milky and a little stick/tacky then it's either not fully cured ie not ready to rub or your creating too much heat and starting to melt it slightly (or a bit of both)

The sanding marks with 220 won't show through on the next coat but personally I'd be using paper and a block or piece of wood that's nice and straight, the problem with those pads is they form to the grain so you end up taking off more soft grain, the idea obviously is to take the hard grain down to the soft nice and evenly so it's dead flat. Might have to step up to 120 for your first coat then another coat, 220 (shouldn't need anywhere near the same effort this time) then your top coat.

Keep in there mate

 

[wlshephard]

]Bare timber always tends to 'furr up' when something goes on it[/COLOR] unfortunately, hardwood is a pain because it has hard grain and soft grain, it's like having a really soft respray on part of a hard paint car but in strips of hard, soft, hard, soft etc.

Best thing to do is make sure it's 100% cured and rub it back as far as it needs to go, if it's going milky and a little stick/tacky then it's either not fully cured ie not ready to rub or your creating too much heat and starting to melt it slightly (or a bit of both)

The sanding marks with 220 won't show through on the next coat but personally I'd be using paper and a block or piece of wood that's nice and straight, the problem with those pads is they form to the grain so you end up taking off more soft grain, the idea obviously is to take the hard grain down to the soft nice and evenly so it's dead flat. Might have to step up to 120 for your first coat then another coat, 220 (shouldn't need anywhere near the same effort this time) then your top coat.

Keep in there mate

One trick to prevent the fur up is to fur up the wood and knock the fur off before adding anything to the surface.

You can wipe the wood with a damp rag and that will raise the fur. Then really, really lightly sand the fur off. May have to do it twice.

Also if you happen to be working on soft grain woods you usually have to use a grain filler and buff the filler flush to the wood surface with burlap to get a smooth surface after you have removed the fur. If you mess around with filler colors you can really bring out the true character of the wood.

I hope that helps

 

[timaishu]

I don't understand why you guys mean by "furring up".

I will ditch the foam block and use paper on my rubber sanding block and try that. I was reading and someone had said that applying poly over the hazy spots will make them disappear. I hopes that true.

Should I maybe use something higher in grit instead of 200? The poly has had a week to cure at this point.

 

[BillE]

I don't understand why you guys mean by "furring up".

I will ditch the foam block and use paper on my rubber sanding block and try that. I was reading and someone had said that applying poly over the hazy spots will make them disappear. I hopes that true.

Should I maybe use something higher in grit instead of 200? The poly has had a week to cure at this point.

Try this as an example: Take any piece if wood (little chunk of 2X4 will do) you have laying around and sand it "smooth." Dust it off and then, with a damp sponge wipe 1/2 of the sanded surface. Let it dry. Notice how the dusted half is still 'smooth' but the damp sponged area is 'fuzzy' feeling? That is 'furring up'.

Bill

 

[timaishu]

Figured I would update this. I ended up just sanding it even more, but with very little pressure. Some areas where I believe it was thicker ended up turning white from shaving those layers, but after applying the second coat of poly, I was delighted to see that it filled in and covered the white areas. It is now dry, and the white spots are gone. I now have the pantry done. Much more to go. I will post some progress pics tonight if I can remember.

Also, it came out pretty smooth overall after the second round of light sanding.

 

[wlshephard]

I don't understand why you guys mean by "furring up".

I will ditch the foam block and use paper on my rubber sanding block and try that. I was reading and someone had said that applying poly over the hazy spots will make them disappear. I hopes that true.

Should I maybe use something higher in grit instead of 200? The poly has had a week to cure at this point.

When you sand wood you break open the wood fibers then when you adding a liquid (stain or etc.) the broken fiber will absorb the liquid and expand. If looks and feels kind of like a fur made of wood fibers. You can minimize furring by doing what I previously posted. There are other methods to achieve the same results.

I hope everything turns out nice.

 

[timaishu]

Figured I would update this thread. So I have all the cabinets completed.

All that is left are the doors!

And I think I know what you mean by furring up.

What I noticed is after the first coat of poly. The panels had a rough texture to it. I sanded it, and then applied the second coat, and now they are smoooooooooooooooth.

I will try to get some pictures posted..