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Thread: Speed Up Finish Drying with Heat

  1. #16
    I've used Arm-R-Seal as my go-to finish on most projects for years and the one thing I've found that consistently dictates drying time is the humidity level in the room. That has a much greater effect on drying time than just fluctuating temperatures (not counting oven-drying in this - just air drying).

    When I apply that first coat to a project in the winter, I can easily apply a second coat (and sometimes even a third) on the same day. But in the summer, I routinely have to wait a full 24 hours (or more) before I can proceed to the next coat.

    I've resorted to the oven on occasion - and the heat helps, but it is primarily the fact that the oven creates a particularly DRY (low relative humidity) environment that aids curing, in my opinion.

  2. #17
    Join Date
    Dec 2006
    Location
    Mesa, Arizona
    Posts
    1,798
    Stan -- You've received several good responses to your original question -- whether it's a good idea to use heat to speed up Arm-R-Seal's curing. Allow me to address a question you didn't ask: Is Arm-R-Seal the 'right' finish for the bowls you're turning? Generally, I prefer to use film finishes, such as lacquer, shellac, and polyurethane, on decorative pieces. For utility items, I prefer a penetrating oil finish, such as BLO or walnut oil. Utility items get handled a lot. My experience that items with a film finish quickly look 'dingy' when handled a lot, while the same item finished with oil just develops a 'nice patina'. And, when a utility item needs it's finish refreshed, that's generally easier with an oil finish than with a film finish.

    For these reasons, it's been a long time since I used a film finish on a bowl. My general practice is to wet sand the bowl with walnut oil. By the time I've sanded through the grits, the bowl has had its finish applied. You really can't get much quicker than that.
    David Walser
    Mesa, Arizona

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