Wipeon poly repairs

[robert baccus]

I have used lacquers and oils all my life but now I have a table probably finished with wipeon poly that is wearing through. I love lacquer because its easy to manipulate while applying and foolproof to repair or replace. Poly does not dissolve into the previous coats and will sometimes peel between coats. How in the world will I repair this area(1sq. ft.) or do I just redo the whole top? Help!

[Russell Neyman]

Robert, not sure about the "repair" part of this -- other than common sense -- but I'm always wary of refinishing tables because of the likelihood of silicone contamination. To mitigate that, I wipe down the surface with automotive paint prep cleaner, which is designed to remove oil, wax, and silicone spray.

[Steve Huffman]

Robert, I'm a lacquer guy too and no expert on other finished. That said, I would go for the spot repair first. Get rid of the wax, sand the area back, wipe on the poly over lapping coats. I have wet sanded nice dry poly and then polished it using automotive rubbing compounds on the lathe. You can do the same using a buffer or by hand. Since its a table, I would use a sanding block for wet sanding to level for sure. If the spot repair is less than satisfactory results, let the spot dry and sand the whole top and refinish from there. This is just me, others may have better ideas.