White marks coming through after finish cured (most likely BLO bleed through)

[Tom DiBiasio]

Hi All

Last year I finally completed one of my bucket list projects - a craftsman style grand father clock. It took me nearly 8 months of slow but methodical building to complete the project I had envisioned for many years. Well in my haste to complete the project in the final hours I rushed a finishing process that even I had my doubts when I was doing it but my mind got clouded by the drive to conclude the project and get the new clock in place.

The finishing procedure I used was as follows:

Brushed coat of BLO and heavy wipe down with full roll of Paper towels (followed by admittedly my first mistake - two day dry time)
Brushed coat of Zinsser Sealcoat (Dewaxed Shellac)
Brushed on 3 coats of General HP satin finish

I really thought the sealcoat would protect the oil under it but either I did not do such a good job of sealing or the power of uncured BLO just found its way through. From the attached photo's you can see the disasters results. Bare in mind these white spots did not show up on the piece until after say 3-4 weeks of being in place in my living area of the house.

My question to you is how would you fix this now? I have been looking at these spots for nearly +5 months now and they are really starting to annoy me to the point of doing something about it. Oh and it does not help with my wife asks me from time to time - why are their white spots on the grandfather clock? Did you miss some spots when you put the finish on !!!!!

Any suggestions for how to fix this now would be greatly appreciated.

IMG_4936.jpgIMG_4935.jpgIMG_4937.jpg

[John TenEyck]

Do you have a cat or dog that likes to pee where it's not supposed to? That just doesn't look like BLO bleed through to me, although I guess it could be blistered HP Poly from BLO leaking through the Sealcoat.

I don't think there's a good solution besides stripping the finish on at least those areas, if not the entire piece, and starting over. I suppose you could first try sanding those areas, sealing them with Sealcoat, and then applying a new coat or two of HP Poly. If it doesn't work, then it's time to strip it off. Good luck.

John

[Prashun Patel]

This does not look like a common culprit: moisture trapped in the finish. This doesn't appear to be your problem because it usually looks like a fog. It also doesn't usually manifest along grain lines, since the issue is in the finish.

Your white spots almost look like selective bleaching of the underlying wood.

Typically, issues with BLO are that topcoats wouldn't adhere to it. It's either too soft or not dry, which can cause the top coat to blister or remain soft - not discolor per se.

What kind of wood is this? It doesn't look like a sap-containing soft wood. Is it? On pine or fir it can bleed through and dry white.

[Jim Becker]

I would also say that it's not the BLO. It doesn't stay in "oil" form as it's a drying oil and a two day cure after the thorough wipe down you mentioned makes it unlikely there was anything that could remain uncured. I also think it's something from "outside" that's causing the bleaching effect...

[johnny means]

Looks like an adhesion issue to me. Generally, I avoid waterbourne finishes over oil for this reason. The hydrophobic nature of the oil coating prevents optimal adhesion.

[Tom DiBiasio]

Thanks to all who took time to respond - I am starting to wonder now (my memory is not so clear from +6months back) but I am thinking I could have had some runs of the HP and I am thinking maybe I have sanded through the shellac !!! Then put more HP over top and that could have come into contact with the BLO directly.

What do you think is the best course of action to resolve?
Im just wondering if I should spot sand the surrounding area , apply light coat of blo again to get consistent color, then seal again and put few more coats of HP just in the areas of the white spots. I really dont want to have to strip the full piece down but if that the only real way I guess i will have to - what stripping product should I use?

Adding some more pictures to give you a better view of the problem spots... Now sure why they are coming in sideways - the original pics are vertical when I took the pic and also when I open the pic directly on my PC ????

clock_3.jpgClock_1.jpgclock_2.jpg

TomD

[John TenEyck]

Might as well try it. If it doesn't work then strip it all and start over. I haven't used stripper since they banned the good stuff with MC, so I can't offer much help except to say that HP Poly should strip pretty easily.

John