How can I polish varnished wood to a nice finish?

Mike,

Thanx for posting all the pictures! That 'showed' what I was trying to explain. Really makes the term, "a picture is worth a thousand words" true.

Bill
 
Mike,

I'll post a follow up, if and when I can find out how to do this. My car is a 1991 Mercedes 300d. I like to keep the car in nice shape for my own enjoyment and well being (gotta have good brakes!), but ...it's only worth a certain amount when I go to sell it (no plans of doing that for now), so I don't want to make a career out of fixing this car. It took me a LONG time to get the old factory finish off, and to redo multiple coats of the varnish and figure out how to get it better along the way. I've spent waaaaay too much time on this project; certainly over a month, not every day all day, but a lot of time.

What I have now with the 5% mix of mineral spirits on the final coat has helped a lot, and for now, I'm going to leave well enough alone. Maybe in a month or so when that is nice and dry, I can contact some wood people for some advice. It sure would be nice to get it perfect, but ...it's still a 22 year old car, only worth X number of dollars.

Thanks for the help thus far though. I took your recommendations as far as claying the car, using #7 Show Finish, etc.
 
verk said:
Mike,


Maybe in a month or so when that is nice and dry, I can contact some wood people for some advice. It sure would be nice to get it perfect, but ...it's still a 22 year old car, only worth X number of dollars.
Click to expand...

For the record, anyone that's seen my wood working skills knows enough to keep me away from hammer, nails, saws and the rest. The ONLY good thing I've ever done with wood was this,

Sanding Wood with a Porter Cable DA Polisher



verk said:
Thanks for the help thus far though. I took your recommendations as far as claying the car, using #7 Show Finish, etc.
Click to expand...


Cool!


:xyxthumbs:
 
I know some woodworking so ill chime in. You need to buy rotten stone. It is a chemical power that gives u the smooth finish u want. dampen the pad, rub the chemical in for about 20 min and let it dry to a haze and wipe off. It should give you what you want. your poly needs to be finished,sanded and dry for rotten stone to work
 
You might want to try 400 grit paper when sanding. I would then do the poly work and finish with rotten stone, I have a picture of a night stand table I did with the rotten stone
 
to sum it up. You would first need to sand with 400 grit to get rid of small imperfections. After use the rotten stone as I mentioned. Rotten stone will make the finish more glassy as it puts the glass smoothness feel in. Since the finish is not going to have food on it that will be eaten (lets hope not =)), You could apply a thin coat of collinite 845 or something similar on the top and then wipe it with pledge
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top