How "light" is light?

[Ken Fitzgerald]

On my honor I promise to....order a book from FWW on finishing. In the meantime I have an immediate predicament caused by SWMBO.

My shop completion is on an immediate hold. My wife wants my first furniture project, a Norm plan oak sideboard finished before our families descend on us to celebrate our two granddaughters HS graduation next month.

This sideboard has been sitting in a semi-finished state in our dining room for over a year. It's been used occasionally to serve food and temporary storage. It was stained with a golden oak miniwax oil stain.It has 1 coat of 50% Miniwas Fast Drying poly and 50% mineral spirits inside and out. Basically I made my own wipeon poly as recommended by one of the "experts" on another site.

My intentions on continuing the finishing are as follows:

1. Wipe down liberally with mineral spirits to remove any dirt, wax, grease.
2. Light sanding to insure adhesion for the following coats.
3. Blow off with a/c to get rid of majority of the dust.
4. 2nd wipedown with mineral spirits to get minor dust.
5. Continue with 50% poly and mineral spirits finish for another 5-6 coats.

Questions:( You are working with a guy with some but limited finishing experience)

1. What is light sanding....do I lightly sand with a sanding block and 220 grit in the direction of the grain?
2. Could/should I use a ROS or palm sander and just lightly go over the surfaces?


Any suggestions to any of this entire plan would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks!

[Jim Becker]

Light sanding means just scuffing it with 320 to get rid of dust nibs and provide some "tooth" for subsequent coats. This is REQUIRED for polyurethane products because they don't even like to stick to themselves unless you recoat within about three hours...something you can do when wiping on the finish since it dries to the touch a little faster than a thicker, brushed coat.

You might want to reconsider using your mixture on the inside of your cabinetry...it's gonna smell forever. 'Suggest you seal the inside surfaces with super-blonde shellac to hold that odor in since you already applied it as well as provide a nice finish in those areas.

Otherwise, your finishing plan should work just great...and you can work on the shop in-between coats... :)