My students are making 10 mahogany tables and a mahogany bar for a local restaurant. I went to HD to get sanding sealer and didn’t realize I got water-based. I hate water-based anything, but it said on the label it works with water- or oil-based Finishes. It was literally the last can of any sanding sealer they had of any kind, so this was my only option other than driving across the island, and we were behind schedule and the laser shop guy was going to be out. It had to be done today. Well, no big deal then. I am going to use an oil based varnish on top and so who cares if the sanding sealer is water based. (Inner voice: You’re about to make a mistake; water based stuff is worthless.). Me: Shut up, inner voice. I am not listening to you, even though you’re always right.
We put the sealer on before lasering our logo on the tops. The finish was really sloppy in the way it laid down, but it did dry clear and looked ok. I did notice that the normal iridescence of the mahogany didn’t show up as well, but it was done. All tops got sealed and went to the laser shop.
Yesterday I was exclted to get the top coats on. The very first one I noticed a problem. It looked hazy. I did one more and it was even worse. I ended up scraping it all off with a razor blade, sanding with 150 grit, wiping with denatured alcohol, then 220 grit and wiping with mineral spirits. That fixed the problem- basically removing all the sanding sealer.
I love Varithane oil varnishes, but their water based stuff I will never ever buy again.
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It has a milky, greenish look. You can see where we sanded the logo lightly and it looks like mahogany should.
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Here is the finished product after a full day of scraping and sanding ten table tops:
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This customer paid us in full in advance and no way was I letting him get second-rate finishes.
This is the failed product.
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