Rubbing out Waterlox Gloss for a glassy look

[Taylor Seidel]

I finished building my 40"x88 1/2" pine/doug fir tabletop a month ago, and I've been finishing the top since.

I put down General Finishes Antique Walnut gel stain, and then top coated with General Finishes Salad Bowl finish. I did I believe, about 8 coats of the salad bowl finish using the wipe-on method. Due to streaking, I did the 2nd coat and on with the salad bowl finish thinned down with mineral spirits at a 1:1 ratio. That fixed the streaking. I waited 24 hours between coats.

Not convinced of the durability of the General Finish salad bowl topcoat. I decided to put on Waterlox Gloss. I put the Waterlox Gloss on top of the Salad bowl finish because the Salad Bowl finish is basically a thinned down shellac from my what I understand. I had a quart of Waterlox left over from my telescope project. After waiting two weeks (the wait length was partly due to being busy with other things), I put on the first coat of Waterlox gloss using the wipe on method, with a scotts blue shop towel. I'm now on my 2nd coat, with the third coat to be wiped on tomorrow. I am waiting 24 hours between coats. I plan to stop at 4 coats. Dust nibs have shown up, and I plan to knock those down with a brown paper bag crumbled up, soaked in mineral spirits, like I did with my telescope project.

However, I would like to rub out the Waterlox Gloss to achieve a glassy look. What approach would you take to this? I know that waiting 30 days to let the Waterlox cure is recommended, and I've planned on that.

A glassy look is what I'm going for. Is it possible with the Waterlox Gloss product?

[Scott Holmes]

YEs it is very possible. 4 wipe-on coats will not be very much build to do a rub-out. Possibly enough for a buff-out. Really depends on what you mean by high gloss glassy look.

Remember that a high gloss finish will highlight ever flaw in the surface. Your tabletop surface must be FLAT not just smooth for a truly glass look.

Telescope looks great.

I would suggest at least 6 coats and 9 would be even better to build your finish for a full rub-out.

[Taylor Seidel]

Scott,

Thanks for your input, and the compliment about the scope.

This morning I considered perhaps dropping the idea of going with a glassy look. By glassy look I mean the look featured in this project:

http://cdn1.thewoodwhisperer.com/wp-content/uploads/finished.jpg

The project is described at: http://www.thewoodwhisperer.com/videos/rubbing-out-a-high-gloss-finish/

I sort of knew the surface had to be flat to achieve that glassy mirror like finish, which is what I thought about this morning. My tabletop was constructed of 2"x4" S4S funiture grade Doug fir for the frame, and 1"x6" S4S pine boards. The pineboards in particular, had warping. Before I stained, I sanded the tabletop surface as flat as I could, but without the use of a jointer and other specialized woodworking equipment, there is only so much I can do to get the surface flat.

In other words, the surface is smooth, but flat? Not even close. All the edges though, are flush, and all gaps were filled in with wood filler.
But yes, I've already concluded that rubbing out to get the glassy mirror like finish is probably out. I don't mind going to 9 wipe-on coats. I've got plenty of Waterlox Gloss left.

What is another way of finishing the Waterlox gloss to get a surface that feels smooth to the touch, while retaining the gloss look? I'll attach a pic of the table, but this was before I coated with Waterlox. The leg assembly isn't done in this picture.

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