Endurovar? Sycamore slab issues

[Prashun Patel]

I have a slab of sycamore that I need to finish. The sapwood is turning out to be an issue. When oiled (shown below with mineral spirits) or shellacked, it blotches and has uneven coloring.

I'm willing to color if necessary.

My plan is to spray a shellac toner to a medium brown, and then topcoat with Endurovar.


How would you finish this?

[Steve Schoene]

I'm not seeing blotches in your pictures. What I see looks like figure and is what I would be trying to emphasize in the finishing process.

[Prashun Patel]

Steve, I think it looks a lot worse in person than in the photo. It's not pretty; it looks dirty. The color also gets unevenly accentuated when wet.

[John TenEyck]

Prashun, I think your approach to spray a shellac toner will do what you want; it will give you even color. If you are really nervous about splotching, then spray a washcoat of plain shellac first, then start with the toner. EnduroVar will go over dewaxed shellac w/o problems.

John

[Jamie Buxton]

My experience is that GF's Clear Poly sprays better than their Endurovar -- less chance of orange peel if I pull the gun out just a tad too much.

[scott vroom]

My experience is that GF's Clear Poly sprays better than their Endurovar -- less chance of orange peel if I pull the gun out just a tad too much.

That's my experience as well. I could be off base here but I'm guessing GF came out with Endurovar to accommodate folks looking for the warmth of a solvent based finish in one can. And IMO it doesn't match the warmth of a true oil finish.

[John TenEyck]

I agree with you both; EnduroVar is harder to spray than Enduro Clear Poly and subject to orange peel. Actually, EnduroVar always has some amount of orange peel although it's not much if I spray it well. Clear Poly never shows orange peel for me and it's exceedingly easy to spray.

EnduroVar is incredibly durable to most any food or chemical you would ever expose it to in daily use. It's not nearly as amber as a solvent based varnish, but it does age over time similar to one. Clear Poly is water clear and has a great UV package in it that prevents it from aging. I like to use EnduroVar on things like cherry where I want it to continue to age. For light woods and walnut, that I don't want to age, I prefer Clear Poly.

John

[Prashun Patel]

Thanks so much for these suggestions. I wll try enduro clear poly. But it is hard to find? Where do you get it mail order?

[Jamie Buxton]

Thanks so much for these suggestions. I wll try enduro clear poly. But it is hard to find? Where do you get it mail order?

One source is http://homesteadfinishingproducts.com/

[scott vroom]

An alternate source is Woodworker's Hardware....about 10% lower cost than Homestead.

http://www.wwhardware.com/general-finishes-water-based-clear-poly-water-based-clear-poly