Wipe-on drying between coats

[Peter Hanson]

Ok, I thought I had this figured out, but apparently not. I'm pretty much a noob at "better" finishing and maybe what I'm doing is right, but...

I'm working on a project with a bunch of cherry pieces that need to be finished on all sides. Sanded thru 220-grit, cleaned well, wiped down with MS. Applied BLO for 20 minutes or so, wiped off. Let dry for almost 48 hours. The wood was definitely handle-ably dry.

Temps have been in the mid 80s to low 90s last few days, with humidly 60 - 70%.

Made a 50/50 mix of P&L gloss and MS. Used barely damp rag to apply mix, just enough to see the wood was "wiped". It has now be 7 hours and still somewhat tacky to touch. :confused: It's going to be tough to get 3 wipe-on coats on today!

Am I doing something wrong? Am I impatient (at this point -> yes)? Should I be in full panic mode? If I need to make a change/correction, what should I do?

Any and all help/comments are appreciated.

Thanks,
psh

[Scott Holmes]

Is you P&L #38 gloss varnish new?

It should have been dry-to-the-touch in less than an hour.

Did you leave any BLO on the surface? It should be wiped DRY!

[Peter Hanson]

Yes, varnish was new and BLO was wiped dry. I'm baffled!

[Scott Holmes]

Don't know what's going on here...

Was the rag clean and not contaminated?

Another thought; how long between wiping down with MS and applying the BLO?

[Prashun Patel]

How much BLO did you put on? If you flooded, there's a possibility it needed more time to dry.

I'd test yr wiping varnish on an un-BLO'd piece of wood. If it takes similarly long to dry, then the varnish is the culprit.

If the test piece dries quickly, then I'd just let your final piece dry longer.

[Peter Hanson]

First, thanks to Shawn and Scott for their replys and advice/recomendations.

I tried a different can of P&L 38 and a different mixing container. No real difference. I used a scrap of cherry to test only the varnish mix also. Some days real slow drying, sometimes better.

The last couple of days here have been as close to ideal (IMHO) drying weather as you could want - mid 80s/40% humidity.

Best drying time has been in the 4 -6 hour range. Since I needed to cover all sides, the best day I've had I was able to get two coats on.

So, I still don't really understand what happened or what I'm doing wrong. I've read elsewhere that BLO is dry when you can't smell it any more on the wood - a test I didn't try, but perhaps in the future. Does anyone have any other recommendations to tell when BLO is _really_ dry?

I may be putting the varnish on too heavily - although I don't know how I could put it on any lighter. I wet the rag then tightly squeeze it out before using.

I've run out of varnishing time with a total of only 7 coats. My wife and I will be selling her jewelry in a large retail show starting 8/5. These pieces will make up the display cases.

After the show, I'm planning on cleaning with MS, sanding with 350 grit, cleaning with MS again, and starting up the varnishing process again to get coverage that is appropriate. Anyone see anything wrong with this plan? If I need to strip the varnish that's already on (just a precaution), are there any products recommended?

Thanks again for the help you have already provided.

psh

[Scott Holmes]

Glad to hear it's going better.

No need to strip the old varnish.

Are you using 100% mineral spirits or somethng else? I don't like the low odor MS.

Dry to the touch is dry enough that you don't leave a finger print not dry enough to sand.

P&L isn't the fastest varnish to dry but 4-6 hours sounds too long. 7 wipe-on coats the way you seem to be applying it is ~2 brush-on coats so that may be enough for a display case.

I'm not home, so I can't see a P&L label; what does it say for recoat time? (ususally they stae brush on dry to recoat times...)

[Peter Hanson]

Thanks again Scott for commenting.

The can says virtually nothing about drying times - something like allow to dry between coats. From the data sheet:


@ 77°F (25°C) 50% RH:
To Touch: 2.0 Hours
Recoat: 6.0 Hours
Use: 24.0 Hours

I use plain 100% MS, not trying to be fancy...

I didn't mean to imply I _wanted_ to refiinish - I just don't know what the cases will look like after transportation, use, and who-knows-what. Obviously, the finish won't have time to completely cure prior to use either.

I originally had intended to apply the equivilant of 4 coats gloss, then 2 coats satin, so my comments above (cleaning, light sanding, etc) were about completing the job. Does that make sense?

[Scott Holmes]

Yes lightly sand and go withthe satin. FYI satin is a bit more difficult to apply as a wipe-on because the flattening agents tends to settle out quickly in thinned varnish.