Tonight I’ve got a friend who’s going to help me decide whether this is ready for finishing or not. I’ve sanded the heck out of it with my RO sander at 150 and 180 grit and am going over it all at 180 tonight by hand to try to get out any remaining scratches.
I decided to make the pegs or keys out of wenge to add a bit of contrast and (I hope) compliment the inlay. I’m also going over the pegs tonight with wood filler before finish sanding them tomorrow. Then it’s two coats a day of wiping varnish until I leave for Iowa Wednesday morning to deliver the finished product to my mother for her (belated) birthday.
These pictures predate the sanding, so some of the tear out you can see near the top has been lessened or, at least, softened a bit.
How many coats of wiping varnish would you all suggest as a goal?
-- Bret, Colorado
3 comments so far
Scott Bryan
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20684 posts in 717 days
posted 153 days ago
Bret, when I cut poly to a 50:50 concentration for wiping I try to put a minimum of 4 coats on just to get a good build on the finish with 320 sanding between coats. After that it is just a matter of how the topcoat looks to me as to whether I add additional coats or not. During warm weather I can usually put another coat on every 4 to 6 hours.
-- With God's help all things are possible- even woodworking. Woodworking is not just a hobby, it is an (expletive deleted) expensive hobby.
a1Jim
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16841 posts in 472 days
posted 153 days ago
Great progress I use the same finishing Scott does. Look forward to the finished quilt rack.
-- Jim from Heirloom Woodshop Southern Oregon
Bret
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83 posts in 389 days
posted 153 days ago
Forgot to mention: I’m planning to stain it with a coat of General Finish Honey Maple, then a coat of American Walnut wiped thin. It was my wife’s idea to blend the two. If mama ain’t happy…. :-)
-- Bret, Colorado