Sanded through finish

[John Hollander]

I am finishing out the top of a walnut table. Started off by sanded the top to 320 grit. Applied two coats of linseed oil. Then applied two coats of gloss arm r seal. Let the finish dry for 48 hours. Sanded the top down with some 600 grit. Applied 3-4 more coats of gloss then multiple coats of satin ( was having trouble getting streaks in the satin). Between each coat of satin I sanded with some 600 grit after letting it dry for 48 hours. I then sanded it from 800-2500 grit sand paper and some how sanded through roughly an 1"X1" area on the top. How can I fix this? Do I need to reapply finish to he whole top or can I just apply a small amount of finish to the area? It does not appear that I sanded through the linseed oil in the wood.

Also how many coats of finish before I can sand it out again?

And finally the top is sanded out to 2000 grit right now. Can I apply finish to the 2000 grit or do I need to rough it up with a courser grit first?

[glenn bradley]

Knowing your finishing protocol (sealer, stain, topcoat, number of coats) will get you a better answer.

[Larry Browning]

Maybe I'm missing something here, but why such a fine grit? I have never heard of sanding wood furniture beyond 320 or maybe 400. Seems like massive overkill to me.

[Prashun Patel]

John,
In addition to Glen's q, please provide the exact name of the products you used. If possible, take a picture too.

Larry,
I frequently sand north of 400 either before the finish, during the finish, and sometimes after the finish.

[John TenEyck]

Larry, I think what you're missing is that the OP is (I think) rubbing out the finish. I go up to at least 2000 grit when I've done that, then switch to automotive polishing compound.

To the OP, regardless of your finishing schedule I think you are going to need at least 2 coats of finish over the area you sanded through. How you get there will depend upon your finishing schedule so, as others have pointed out, please share that with us.

John

[John Hollander]

Knowing your finishing protocol (sealer, stain, topcoat, number of coats) will get you a better answer.

Thanks for the suggestion, I updated my original post to include my finish schedule.

[glenn bradley]

OK. With the 6+ coats of finish the 'sanding through' is perplexing. I don't mean to ask a stupid question but, are you sure you are down to wood? That is, are you maybe seeing a visual anomaly from the reflected light and you are still in the film? We just want to be sure you are at bare wood as the approach will be different. We have some really good finish guys on here. Hopefully they will see this and chime in.

[John TenEyck]

Did you apply the Arm-R-Seal with a brush or did you wipe it on? If you wiped it on you may not have had enough coats. And how did you sand it, by hand or with your ROS? When I've sanded it with my ROS it's easy to take a lot off, even from a brushed on coat.

John

[Prashun Patel]

Also, if you are applying satin and wiping it on, to boot, I don't think you need to rub out as completely as you've scheduled.

[John Hollander]

I applied most of my coats by wiping it on. 2 coats were put on with a foam brush and one I tried spraying on. I sanded with 600 grit between my multiple coats of satin because I didn't want the finish to get too thick ( I was only applying more coats to try to get rid of the wiping marks that I was getting). I was shocked that I sanded down to the wood as well. All I can think of is that I sanded too much between coats.

[John Hollander]

Here are two pictures of the spot. The first one is from when i was wet sanding, and the second after the top had dried.

IMG_0968.jpgIMG_0969.jpg

[John Hollander]

Anybody know if I will have issues putting more coats of arm r seal on a surface sanded to 2000 grit?

[Scott Holmes]

I would sand it flat with 320 and apply another few wipe-on coats or a brush on-coat.

[Chris Merriam]

Aren't you fighting yourself by putting satin over gloss, then trying to bring that up to a shine? Why not stick with all gloss? Too many coats of satin will start to muddy the clarity of the grain according to what I've read.

[John Hollander]

Aren't you fighting yourself by putting satin over gloss, then trying to bring that up to a shine? Why not stick with all gloss? Too many coats of satin will start to muddy the clarity of the grain according to what I've read.

Chris,

I used satin over the gloss finish because I want a satin finish. Using he gloss underneath the satin was reccomeded to me to help keep the clarity of the grain. Sanding it out to 2000 grit didn't give me a gloss finish.