olympic oil based didn't dry?

[keith ouellette]

I painted some wood chairs over 15 hours ago with olympic oil based paint. The chairs were sanded very well but some of the old paint did remain. I do not know what it was but it sanded very easy and seemed very hard. It came off as a fine dust and very little of it stuck to the sand paper.

this morning the oil based olympic paint was still tacky and would wipe off very easily with mineral spirits.

Can anyone tell me what is going on?

[Howard Acheson]

It is always risky to apply a finish over an old, unknown finish. It can be particularly a problem if all you did was to sand the surface. It sounds like their is something that is incompatable between the prior finish and your paint. It could also be a problem with the temperature where you did your finishing or where it was put after finishing.

If it isn't dry within 48 hours, figure it ain't gonna ever dry. You will have to probably use a chemical stripper and remove all the finish and start over.

[keith ouellette]

thanks Howard. When i first started I figured the old paint was Oil based. When I noticed the new coat wasn't drying I realized the only thing I had to go on about the old paint was the way it looked and that may not have been enough.
I know now I shouldn't have skipped the primer step even though I know the original coat of paint wasn't the problem.

My wife and I spent a couple of hours wiping off the fresh, undried coat. It wasn't the right color anyway. At that time I noticed what was left of the original paint was staying on and didn't seem to be reacting with the new paint.

When I was done cleaning I started painting with a can of rustoleum oil based gloss black (brushable, not the spay, and something I'm more used to) and within a few hours it was already cured farther along than the olympic had. After 8 hours it was hard and well bonded.

Just my luck. It seems I got bad paint the first time out; it still isn't dry on some things it dripped on yesterday.

[glenn bradley]

A safe bet when not sure is a coat of shellac as a sealer. I have also used Zinsser B.I.N. which is a primer that has shellac in it; seals anything and I have never had anything bleed through it including yucky pine knots. The BIN is brutally WHITE but can be tinted. If you get your paint made up at the same time, they can pigment both at once.