ArmRSeal still tacky

[Phil Mueller]

Let me start out by saying I’ve had very good results from ArmRSeal. But this one has me a bit stumped.
For a current project, I prepped in the exact same way, pieces of walnut, maple, and zebrawood (sand to 220, vacuum, and wipe down with DNA, one application of Watco, let dry 72 hours). Applied a thin coat of ArmRSeal gloss to each. The walnut and maple cured as normal...within 4-6 hours. It’s now been two days and the zebrawood is still tacky.

I’m not freaked out about it. I’m just going to wipe it off with soomething, sand it down and move on. But does someone have a guess as to why it happened?

[Mike Gresham]

Zebrawood is a little oily according to the write up at Woodcraft. My speculation is that sitting for 72 hours allowed some of the oil to return to the surface. Maybe the oil messed with ArmRSeal's ability to cure.

[John TenEyck]

I would not use Danish Oil under ARS. There's no benefit to my way of thinking, only potential downside. I've never used Zebrawood, but reading about it shows it has large open pores. That makes me wonder if the Danish Oil you first applied ever cured, or perhaps it still sucked in so much ARS that it hasn't yet cured. In either case, if it is still soft I would see if mineral spirits takes it off. If not, I'd strip it with chemical stripper and start anew. And this time I would start with a couple of wiped on coats of Sealcoat shellac to seal the pores and then proceed with light coats of ARS. Good luck.

John

[Phil Mueller]

Just to follow up, I ended up wiping the tacky mess with mineral spirits, sanded to bare wood and refinished it with shellac. Done.