As I inferred in the title, I'm a noob to woodworking in general but I learn quick. Been working with Oil Based Poly to finish furniture projects and I've been mostly happy with the outcomes. However, my current project is made of cedar (which I've used oil based poly on before) and this particular wood has some beautiful white, "rose", and even what is closer to purple than anything, coloration that I don't want to ruin by covering it with the amber tint that comes from the OBP. So I thought, I'll just use Water Based Poly to achieve the glossy, clear finish I'm after. All I can say after way too much time and too many coat/sand down/re-coat attempts, trying to get the water based applied smoothly and without blemishes... I'm on the verge of loosing my hair a few decades early. I thought I'd try to dilute the poly with thinner to make a wipe-on brew, but this is water based, and I don't think that dog will hunt. I'm down to the following ideas: 1) Sand the Water-based Brush-on Poly smooth, and apply a thin coat of wipe on poly (oil-based over the water based brush-on) to finish it, and accept whatever "ambering" occurs, or strip all of the WB'd Poly off the dadgum thing and take a whack at whatever those with far more experience and wisdom than I (just about everyone) would recommend.
*Can I make the water based into a "wipe-on"?
*Can I wipe on the oil based over the water based?
*Am I barking up the tree with a bear in it instead of the one with a squirrel (aka wrong tree)?
Thanks Y'all,
-Higgy Baby