Kevin Andrist
10-27-2014, 7:49 PM
I'm working on (completing) a coffee table with the top made mostly of q-sawn sycamore. In one other q-syc finishing test I did a year ago I ran into a similar behavior of portions of this wood acting like a finish sponge. "Sponge" in that when I apply a finish, some portions of the wood have that wet-finish look(that subsequently dries back as expected) and other areas immediately absorb the finish and have a very flat surface appearance. The finish just dives in much like applying finish to a sponge.
In my previous test on similar q-syc I applied one coats of Seal-a-Cell and started appling coats of Arm-r-Seal assuming the porous wood would seal and eventually I'd have an even-uniform look to the surface. Well..in that test I stopped at 7 coats of Arm-r-Seal and nearly all of the porous wood sealed, though some areas continued to suck in the finish and the surface looked flat-unfinished. Naturally..the areas that were not porous had too much finish on them and had a plastic look (undesirable).
Pics of the current project are below. This wood now has two liberal coats of Seal-a-Cell on it. You can see a gloss on the cherry(a well-sealed surface) and some parts of the q-syc, but the darker area in the center continues to suck in the Seal-a-Cell and doesn't seem to seal up.
My question..how to I get the porous q-syc to seal up such that I can add a couple coats of Arm-r-Seal, have an even-uniform surface, and call it 'done'?
Frankly, it wouldn't bother me to have a very natural appearance to the top and just leave the top looking sort of bare-wood (leave the porous wood dull/open looking), but the concern is even a small spill of something like red wine will dive right into the wood, stain it...and...then I'd make a new top I guess..
http://i1106.photobucket.com/albums/h368/nearflooding/1113%20finishing%20samples/20141026_093225_zps7e5fc598.jpg
http://i1106.photobucket.com/albums/h368/nearflooding/1113%20finishing%20samples/20141026_093216_zpsd4b64a0f.jpg
http://i1106.photobucket.com/albums/h368/nearflooding/1113%20finishing%20samples/20141026_093149_zpsdf32b1f2.jpg
http://i1106.photobucket.com/albums/h368/nearflooding/1113%20finishing%20samples/20141026_093511_zps91144f0c.jpg
In my previous test on similar q-syc I applied one coats of Seal-a-Cell and started appling coats of Arm-r-Seal assuming the porous wood would seal and eventually I'd have an even-uniform look to the surface. Well..in that test I stopped at 7 coats of Arm-r-Seal and nearly all of the porous wood sealed, though some areas continued to suck in the finish and the surface looked flat-unfinished. Naturally..the areas that were not porous had too much finish on them and had a plastic look (undesirable).
Pics of the current project are below. This wood now has two liberal coats of Seal-a-Cell on it. You can see a gloss on the cherry(a well-sealed surface) and some parts of the q-syc, but the darker area in the center continues to suck in the Seal-a-Cell and doesn't seem to seal up.
My question..how to I get the porous q-syc to seal up such that I can add a couple coats of Arm-r-Seal, have an even-uniform surface, and call it 'done'?
Frankly, it wouldn't bother me to have a very natural appearance to the top and just leave the top looking sort of bare-wood (leave the porous wood dull/open looking), but the concern is even a small spill of something like red wine will dive right into the wood, stain it...and...then I'd make a new top I guess..
http://i1106.photobucket.com/albums/h368/nearflooding/1113%20finishing%20samples/20141026_093225_zps7e5fc598.jpg
http://i1106.photobucket.com/albums/h368/nearflooding/1113%20finishing%20samples/20141026_093216_zpsd4b64a0f.jpg
http://i1106.photobucket.com/albums/h368/nearflooding/1113%20finishing%20samples/20141026_093149_zpsdf32b1f2.jpg
http://i1106.photobucket.com/albums/h368/nearflooding/1113%20finishing%20samples/20141026_093511_zps91144f0c.jpg