Strange finish situation

I have three small boards veneered with chestnut burl. Sanded to 220, vacuumed and wiped with DNA, applied a coat of ArmRSeal gloss. Dried in 4 hours...all good. Sanded the first coat fairly aggressive (removed all shine...looking to fill a few deeper indents in the veneer). After sanding, vacuumed and wiped with DNA. Applied a second coat of ArmRSeal gloss. After 24 hours it remains tacky. I have a fan blowing on them and it seems to be drying, but am prepared to remove it and start over...perhaps seal it with shellac.

Can’t quite figure out the issue. The ArmRSeal is in a stop loss bag. The first coat, I poured out a bit onto a paper plate. For the second coat, I poured a small amount into a cut down paper dixie cup. Maybe wax in the cup? This was the only difference between the first and second coats. I would suspect oily wood, but the first coat dried fine. Kind of a head scratcher here.

Hopefully it will dry and I can move on.

I always come to grief if I don't let the first coat dry for about 24 hours. A lot of the first coat goes into the wood and even though it may seem dry on the surface the stuff inside isn't and needs more time. But the DNA or Dixie Cup may be the real source of the problem. If it isn't dry in another 24 hours I would strip it off and start over, with no DNA or Dixie Cups in the process. Just vacuum off the dust.

John

Thanks John. Was hoping you would offer some sage advice. It’s getting there...just a few sticky spots. I suspect by morning, it will be dry. That will make it about 48 hours on the second coat. No more DNA and dixie cups...and a bit more patience on the first coat.

My suspicion would be the wax coating from the Dixie cup.
My dad tells the story of painting the living room trim with oil based enamel - last century - and using an old cottage cheese container (this was in the 50’s, so paper with wax coating). It remained sticky for so long he finally had to strip it and start over.
Good luck, Patrick

Just to close this out, I had to go out of town and it gave the pieces an additional 3 days to dry. So about a week in total. All was good when I returned. After light sanding, a thin coat of shellac, and subsequent ArmRSeal coats have dried perfectly. Patience won in this case.

"Patience won in this case."

In IT, I find that 90% of users' computer problems are solved by rebooting.

In finishing, it appears to me that 90% of the time if a finish that fails to dry it is solved by patience.