Too Cold To Finish?

[Keith Strong]

I am planning on finishing a cherry bookcase with a coat of watco and then top coating with seal-a-cell. My garage is about 40 degrees. Is it too cold in the garage to use wipe on finishes? I do not want to apply the finish in the basement due to the odor.

[Steve Schoene]

Oilbased finishes would, at best cure at glacial speeds, but could also never cure properly even if warmed up subsequently. Evaporative finishes such as shellac would work at those temps. Waterborne finishes would likely be a disaster, quite possibly not even laying down on the surface as it was applied.

[Jim Becker]

Best results are always when you stay within the manufacturer's recommended temperature range. What Steve said is sage...

[Scott Holmes]

Seal-a-cell and Watco are very similar. Per the MSDS/Tech Data sheet they are both oil/varnish blends. The Watco may have color added, unless you're using their neutral or natural color which has no color added.

Why mix brands, taking a chance on them not playing nice together.

[Jude Binders]

Why not just throw a space heater in the garage and warm things up ... if it's a open garage, just use some poly to close it off temperately while the finish drys ... that's what i do.

[Chris Fournier]

40 degrees F is way too cold for any kind of wood finishing. I have found that 60 degrees is really less than ideal. Most woodworking finishes really do well at 70 degrees. This is a gross generalization but it will keep you safe.

[Phil Phelps]

Forget the product. I don't work a 40 degrees.

[Scott Holmes]

Yes 40 is too cold to finish with anything but shellac...

This is one reason I live in Houoston; it was 72 yesterday.

[Keith Strong]

Looks like I will bringing the project inside to the basement. Hopefully it will not stink up the house. Unfortunately it is not going to be 70 degrees in upstate NY until June.
Thanks for your help.

[Howard Acheson]

The drying times stated on finish labels for reactive finishes (oil based and waterborne finishes) are based on 70-75 degrees and 50% relative humidity. Below 65-70 degrees drying and curing time may be doubled. Below 55 degrees, curing may stop or not occur. The finish may feel dry because the solvent has evaporated but the secondary and most important curing process is temperature dependent. Full protective qualities may not be attained.

Waterborne finishes are also affected by freezing and by high humidity.

Also, the temperature of the finish, the item being finished and the air must be maintained 3-4 weeks for the curing process to be completed properly and fully.

Evaporative finishes such as shellac and NC lacquer can be applied at any temperature. Evaporation is only minimally affected by temperature.

[Darius Ferlas]

Unaware of various rules and such, last year I applied urethane on a coffee table. The recommended thinning of 10% did little good so I had to remove the botched finish a couple of times. Eventually I ended up with 50/50 solvent to urethane. I used foam brush and very thin coats. So thin in fact that I applied almost no pressure while brushing. The weight of the foam brush was pretty much all the pressure I needed.

Over a 6 days I was able to apply 6 coats. The drying to touch was somewhat sped up by one of those cheap ceiling mounted radiant heaters running at 50% power (700W). The air temp was about 7 to 8 C (44 to 46F), while the surface of the finished pieces, from the heater, was around 15C (58F). The finishing material was stored in the cold garage immediately before use. I took the table inside the house after 3 days when I could hardly smell the finish anymore. Another 2 weeks inside the house seemed to have taken care of a big chunk of the curing.

The result was probably one of the best finishing jobs I ever made.

Just a couple of hours ago, under the same conditions, I applied two coats of satin WB Varathane Poly, over two coats of tinted de-waxed shellac. The tint was a local alcohol based product. The difference was that tonight I used the cheap HF HVLP system and no brushing at all. The Poly was stored inside the house so it was warm before I used it and the warm air of the HVLP propelling the material certainly helped. The WB coats were dry to the touch within about 20 minutes and I am pleased with the results so far. The coats are very thin so I'm looking at at least 4 to 6 more. The project is a walnut corner desk for my daughter. I expect to reassemble it inside the house on Sunday at the latest and probably give it a day or two before she can use it.

I had little to zero luck with oil based stains under the same conditions. They were still "soft" after 5 days on bare wood.

These are certainly not recommended techniques and conditions to apply finishes, and I am not posting to argue with the distinguished posters but rather to relate my (in)experience. I am not a pro and it is just a hobby so I don't care if I get burnt once in a while. No paying customers are waiting for my work and the family is understanding.

[Kevin Fitzsimons]

I just finished a second coat of Watco Danish Oil on a cherry headboard in my basement. There's an odor, but it's not really a bad smell. Can't smell it upstairs.
Finishing IS really an art and science as someone noted above. Sometimes a piece of wood, I work with cherry most of the time, looks as smooth and clear as can be. Then when I stain it, gel or wiping, it splotches. It's so hard to know when to use a conditioner, what kind to use that's compatible with the stain, to what grit do I sand it, etc, etc. I spend so much time working on a project and when it comes time to finish it, I'm terrified. Projects come out looking fine, but it can always be better. I guess experience and time are the answers.
I've got 17 four panel poplar doors to stain and install at home as my next big project. Poplar is very unpredictable to stain. I'm using Old Masters penetrating stain as it's the only one I could get mixed to match my trim. Anyone have words of wisdom for staining poplar?