Coffee Table Finish *Update* With Pics

[Jason Scott]

Hey guys,

Ok, so here is where I am at, let it cure about a week and then started to rub out. Started out with 400, then 800, 1000, 1500 (all with mineral oil) and then compound. The compoud did not go well. It turned into an awful mess, I thought it would be like a car, it is not, at least I can't make the results like that. So I went back over the mess with mineral spirits to get the compound off, and out of grain pores :mad: which I thought were filled with shellac from my sand down but I guess not.

So after that I resanded with 1500 and oil and then applied by hand some deep gloss polish from Meguirs to get out the sanding swirls, etc. Results were pretty good. It is not perfect, but I am not sure I can get it any better, it is basically a mirror polish at this point although in certain lights it seems a little duller (not much) but those places always coincide with grain patterns so maybe it is just the wood, i'm tired and stumped. Anyway I want to know if you all think any more can be done, or should be done. The two pictures are shown just to show the reflection of the finish, one is the lamp and window and the other is reflecting the bottle, let me know, thanks,

Jason

[Richard M. Wolfe]

I see nothing to fault about it, Jason. As far as the sheen of the finish I rarely do anything with a gloss finish, and if it is it will nearly always be a small item. I saw pictures of a kitchen remodel that was downe with a high gloss and it looked like a house of mirrors. The other thing is practically anything rubbed over the top scuffs the finish and makes an easy to see marks.

It's tough to go by pictures for some things; I'd like to see a piece from various angles, etc to comment on the finish. The thing that comes to mind is last summer I had a large slab (40'x60') poured. After it was poured and set up at the right time of day and sun angle you could see reflections of objects off it and it didn't have a super-slick finish.

But a high gloss, if maintained properly makes for a good showpiece. Also - nice work in the construction. You can read and read and ask and ask and, yes, you can save yourself a lot of grief but I don't think there's really any good substitute for hands on experience. Keep on truckin'.