Finishing tips needed

Submitted by Medickep on Mon, 11/04/2013 - 21:35

It seems like every time I work on a project, I get different tips on how to improve the finish of a project, better than the last time. Other than following the manufacture’s directions, which often don’t include these “tips” I was wondering if anyone had any good articles on finish procedures for the different type of finishes.

My current procedures:

(painted projects): I’ve been using Floetrol with a 4” roller

sand the project up to 220 grit
Prime and sand at 220 grit
first coat of paint with 220 grit
Second coat of paint

With this I sometimes feel like the finish project isn’t as smooth as it was prior to the las coat of paint, but I’ve never heard of sanding paint after a final coat (I’m to afraid of loosing the gloss).

Clear coats:

I’ll sand the project up to 220 grit
Spray multiple coats (at least 3)
I usually do no sand in between as I’ve been using the spray polyurethane and it says no sanding is needed as long as it’s less than 2 hours.

I have heard that if you brush it on you should use a foam brush and go with the grain the first coat and than against the grain the second one??

I’ve felt some bumps with this before and considered trying a 0000 steel whoop but never did.

Staining:

I don’t have a lot of experience with staining, but I’m guessing I would put the stain on, wait 5-10 minutes, rub it off and repeat after 24 hours for a darker look, followed by some polyacrylic????

Any help in this department would be much appreciated!

claydowling

Thu, 11/07/2013 - 10:35

This is probably a pretty endless topic of exploration. But there's a couple of good books on the subject. Wood Finishing 101, by Bob Flexner, was really helpful for me. He has another book of his monthly finishing column, Flexner on Finishing, that is good reading, but the different format makes it not the best starting point.