polishing a wood book shelf ?

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hmardown

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not sure where to post this question. mods, feel free to move if wrong. maybe someone on here has gone this route, now to the ?

my wife is working on painting a new pine book shelf. She's got maybe 4 or 5 coats on already with some sanding in between. the problem it's a blotchy or streaky finish on it. She used a wipe on poly to help. which it did to some extent. but now the wipe on poly seems dull & shinny in different spots. would polishing or compounding help this ? also what are the ramifications of using this product if it doesn't work ? I'm worried if it doesn't help would i still be able to apply another coat of poly ? thanks for reading & would appreciate any input or experience anyone may of had.
thank you, Carlo
 
I would look at wet sanding and not using polishes. Make sure your polyurethane is good and cured prior to sanding. Remember to work clean. I would look at woodworking/finishing forums for their opinion.

I would guess most wood polyurethane would gum up foam pads so fast it would make polishing very difficult if not counterproductive.
 
So she painted, then used a clear wipe-on poly after?

Was the "blotchy or streaky finish" just from the brush strokes from applying the paint?

What type of paint was it she applied?

If she used a nice oil based paint, you can cut and polish the paint by itself. I don't think it will work well with a latex though.

If she did poly over latex, I'm not sure how well that will work out, and would be concerned about the poly being pulled off of the paint.

Some wipe-on polys are just a thinned down version of something like spar urethane although it could be water based which is a bit different.

Something like spar urethane can be cut and polished and responds well to it.

Either way, if you do try to polish the surface and find you want to try to apply another coat of poly, just clean and sand the surface prior to doing so.

Here's some good information on wood finishing.

http://media.sharefoodforest.org/literatur/technik/holz/UnderstandingWoodFinishesFlexner,Bob_en.pdf

I have the book if there's anything missing.
 
I've done quite a bit of woodworking and when it comes to polyurethane finishes (Minwax, Varathane, etc.) they are very difficult to apply. The first coat usually goes on fairly nice but subsequent coats become more troublesome. The urethane gets tacky and what I call "maple syrupy" very quickly with very little brush time and almost non-existent flow-out making a uniform finish all but impossible on anything but very small work pieces.

Whenever I'm looking for a professional looking urethane finish on wood I have found the only way to get it is by spraying.

I'd suggest sanding what you've got with 220 or 320 and then spraying a final coat. If you have any spray equipment that would be ideal. Thin the urethane with at least 25% mineral spirits for spraying. If not, the available rattle cans work pretty well.

I've thought about sanding and polishing on occasion but haven't tried it yet.
 
thanks for the come back guys. Mantilgh, yes it's oil base paint. but it's already coated with poly. i passed on your post & link to Her. thank you
Carlo
 
Sorry, that book has some good info but I'm not sure if any of it relates.

I agree that it is very hard to get a good finish using a brush or wipe on finish on large pieces.
 
2black1's
that sounds like a great idea. we're going to sand it down tomorrow & then get a spray can of clear. I'm not going to buy that 2 part clear it's a little pricey(although it's good stuff). just the run of the mill spray can clear should do it. thanks again everyone.
Carlo
 
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