Brand name poly?

[newood2]

Are all brand name polyurethane the same quality?

Howie

[Jeffrey Schronce]

That is a very interesting question that I was pondering a few minutes ago! You would think that theoretically they should all be pretty much the same. However, anyone who has compared General Finishes wipe on poly versus Minwax based wipe on poly can tell you there is an amazing difference. I had used Minwax wipe on poly in the past and decided to start mixing my own using Minwax poly as a base. I got the same results as the very expensive Minwax wipe of poly. Due to the recommendation of a few other folks I decided to give General Finishes wipe on poly a try. Holy smokes. I built two layers of gloss, then a satin final. The gloss was so deep and nice, however I usually don't finish final with gloss, rather I usually use satin or semi-gloss. High gloss stuff I usually use lacquer and buffing with pumice and rottenstone. The first time I used the General Finishes was on a Cherry project. The wood BEGGED you to touch it. It was so smooth and soft. Man I absolutely love that stuff.
So, I believe General Finishes Arm R Seal is greatly superior to Minwax. I have to assume that is due to the poly being superior. There are a lot of varibles that I don't account for in my review, such as GF's Arm R Seal is tung oil, urethane and mineral spirits, verus my mixtures which are BLO, poly and mineral spirits.
I can say that if you are wiping or brushing poly on a natural finish wood, then Seal A Cell, followed by two coats of Arm R Seal will result in a wonderful, rich durable finish. Highly, highly recommended. I am not sure that the Seal A Cell is that necessary or that different from the Arm R Seal. I have had great results using Arm R Seal over a wash coat of garnet shellac on Cherry with great results.

[MilDoc]

Simple answer - no. What you see in big box stores is "OK". What you see at Woodcraft (especially any General Finishes products) is far superior. No pro uses the BB, Ace, etc stuff, but they do have their preferences.

I've only been doing WW a short time. Started with BORG stuff. then read WW sites. Switched to mainly General Finishes, plus a few others. Amazing difference in ease of use, lack of streaking, and more.