Dull spots on rubbed Waterlox finish

[David Perfette]

I've never rubbed out a finish before. I built a large cherry butcher block kitchen island top and finished it with Waterlox sealer/finish. My plan is to rub it out to a nice satin or semi gloss finish. Before going forward I read and viewed the help material from Waterlox and I found some helpful videos on Youtube as well. I put on 10 coats to make sure i had a nice base with which to rub and then I waited a little over three weeks for it to cure. I just did a test area and ended up with these dull spots. I would hope that with ten coats that i didn't go through the finish? I used my orbital sander and started with 400 grit wet/dry and then went to 600, 800, 1,000 and 1,200. Any suggestions on how to fix this? I'm wondering if it is a matter of missing those spots with some of the earlier grits? Should i just start low in those spots, at 600, and then progress through my grit order back up to 1,200? Or, did I screw up in another way? Thanks in advance.

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[Dan Hahr]

Looks like you went through the finish. I am in the process of finishing a walnut table with Waterlox. I built up several layers on the top surface and first tried to use their satin to achieve the finish I am used to seeing. It worked fine on the vertical surfaces of the base, but dried with some type of pattern of squiggly dots that looked horrible in raking light. I'm not sure, but either I got a bad batch of Satin, or they have reformulated their satin to something I can't use anymore. I really liked their finish from 8-9 years ago.

I then tried to build up a finish to rub out. I used 1000 grit Abralon pads lubricated with water and still cut through the finish in places. I think that the very subtle high spots took the brunt of the pad and were just too soft, even after several days of drying. I used steel wool (0000) with lube and got uneven abrasion lines that looked terrible.

I was hoping to finish this top with the same finish as the base, but I am now looking to either General Finishes Arm R Seal (satin polyurethane) or my stand by cabinet finish, ML Campbell Envirovar (satin conversion varnish). Both of these level out perfectly, but are just a bit lighter than the Waterlox. I may try to add some dye into the schedule, either in the conversion varnish, or before topcoating.

Dan

[David Perfette]

Thanks Dan. I'm thinking now though, that I didn't let it fully cure before attempting to rub it out with soapy water, and that those spots are where the water penetrated. I can feel raised grain. Also, the one spot is very uniform to the strip of wood underneath. If I had sanded through I think the spot would be more 'general' instead of specific that one strip. You mention that you waited several days before rubbing out with the abralon. I read that oil finishes take at least a couple of weeks to cure/harden enough to rub. I then read on Waterlox's site that they recommend at least 30 days to fully cure. I waited 24 days, so again, I'm thinking I just didn't wait long enough for it to properly cure. I just added finish to the one spot. it burns through the previous coats so I'm hoping that will do the trick.

[John TenEyck]

Looks to me like you cut through to bare wood. Put a few drops of water on a couple of those areas. If it soaks in, you did. Ten coats of Waterlox should be plenty but you didn't say how you applied them and the finish looks very thin even in the good areas.

If your surface is not dead flat there is a much higher chance of cutting through, especially with the 400 grit you started with. 24 days was more than enough time for the finish to cure before rubbing out; I really doubt that was an issue.

My opinion is sand it dead flat and then apply 3 or 4 brushed on coats, each as soon as the prior one is no longer sticky to your fingers. That will give you a good base to sand, carefully, after a couple of days, and then apply 2 - 4 thin wiped on coats. If you want to rub it out then start with gloss. After 2 weeks you should be able to rub it out w/o issue, but start with 600 or 800 grit. It should already be dead flat so there's no need for coarser. Or just use 0000 steel wool and wool lube. It will give you a beautiful satin sheen.

You might consider an alternative to rubbing out. After the gloss base coats have been applied and sanded switch to satin and wipe on the last few coats. Done.

John

[David Perfette]

Looks to me like you cut through to bare wood. Put a few drops of water on a couple of those areas. If it soaks in, you did. Ten coats of Waterlox should be plenty but you didn't say how you applied them and the finish looks very thin even in the good areas.

If your surface is not dead flat there is a much higher chance of cutting through, especially with the 400 grit you started with. 24 days was more than enough time for the finish to cure before rubbing out; I really doubt that was an issue.

My opinion is sand it dead flat and then apply 3 or 4 brushed on coats, each as soon as the prior one is no longer sticky to your fingers. That will give you a good base to sand, carefully, after a couple of days, and then apply 2 - 4 thin wiped on coats. If you want to rub it out then start with gloss. After 2 weeks you should be able to rub it out w/o issue, but start with 600 or 800 grit. It should already be dead flat so there's no need for coarser. Or just use 0000 steel wool and wool lube. It will give you a beautiful satin sheen.

You might consider an alternative to rubbing out. After the gloss base coats have been applied and sanded switch to satin and wipe on the last few coats. Done.

John

Yeah, it does look like I went through it. Well, I have a lot more finished top with which to practice and develop the skill. Re - the satin wipe on finish. I may just do that.