Rubbing out varnish

[smorris]

I have to remove the dust nibs, small bubbles, etc from the surface of the varnish. After it cures for ~3 weeks my plan is

1) Wet sand @ 1000 then 1500 just to smooth and level as necessary (may take a while)
2) Use pumice/mineral oil and buff to uniform surface
3) Use rottenstone/mineral oil to buff to final finish

Has anyone done this and have any suggestions or warnings?

[cabinetman]

That would work. You could also use automotive rubbing compounds or rouges. Some are marked with numbers for how smooth they are, or some go by color, the reds are usually coarser than the whites.
.

[drumpriest]

Make sure that you let the varnish fully cure first, 3 weeks may still be slightly too short a time, depending upon your weather patterns, I usually let mine go for 4. I start with 400 grit to level the surface, then 600, then steel wool 4o, then pumice and rotten, as Cabinetman says you don't have to stop there, you can keep going to finer and finer grits. Make sure you have sufficient coats on there, so that there is a good amount of finish left once you've done the rub out.

This is one of the things that makes me so excited about using USL, it goes on MUCH flatter than the wipe on arm-r-seal, and you can skip to a finer grit at the start. And it has burn in, so no witness lines, and takes 3 days to cure, not over 3 weeks.

Get yourself setup with a raking light so that you can really see what is going on with your surface.

good luck!

[docrowan]

Keith,

I must have missed something - what's USL?

[MikeMcCoy]

Keith,

I must have missed something - what's USL?

I'm guessing (but it's probably a safe guess )

http://www.finishsystems.com/targetc...aylacquer.html

[cabinetman]

Target Coatings - Ultima Spray Lacquer (PSL) - 1000 Series is a waterbased coating that is basically a water based polyurethane. It's base is Dipropylene Glycol Monomethyl Ether and Propylene Glycol Monomethyl Ether which also make up the bases for most water based polyurethanes. It is not a lacquer.

Manufacturers can call their product whatever they want to induce sales. A rule of thumb for product ID would be to see what their label recommends for thinning and clean up. Basically the products/bases are:

Lacquer - lacquer thinner (acetone based)
Oil base - Mineral spirits (could include turpentine, naptha)
Shellac - Denatured alcohol
Water based - water
.

[smorris]

Thanks for the info everybody. I may let it go 4 weeks, I'm not in a hurry so I'd rather err on the side of caution. LOML is very patient when it comes to having things come out of the shop, more patient then me I'm afraid.

[drumpriest]

You guys got it right, USL from target coatings. It's called lacquer because it acts like nitrocellulose in terms of burn in, etc.... There's been a lot of heated discussion about the idea of water based systems being called lacquers.

Regardless of where on the fence you lie on that issue, USL is the name, and it's a pretty nice product to use, I've become a fan of it by using it. It's just a pleasure to use in every way.

btw, there are water borne shellacs as well.

When I did the rub out on my desk, my wife was a champ, that thing cured for about 6 weeks, and she didn't mind it being in the living room for the second 1/2 of it so that I could move onto the next project. Got some witness lines on that one, I didn't sand aggressively enough between coats. Overall though it came out great. That's the largest thing that I've done a rub out finish on, 27"x72".

[Wood_workur]

here are instructions from american woodworker for rubbing out poly:

1) sand to remove any major imperfections with 320, then 400 and then 600
2) 00 steel wool to uniform sheen with soapy water
3) same with 0000 steel wool
4) pumice and rotten stone using felt

I added some rubbing compound and the swirl remover (if you used a buffer, which you will want to. my arm almost fell off after a 6"x8" piece) to the end of that and it got really shiney.

[just started]

Keith, how does the USL compare to real lacquer on rubbing out? I first learned to spray on cars in the 60's with show type 40-70 layer base, color and clear coats that took many weeks to do. I kind of miss the smell of lacquer, but I'm supposed to stay away from it now.

[drumpriest]

I have not yet done a rub out on USL, as the off the gun has been nice enough for the projects I've done with it thus far, I'm really looking forward to doing something worthy of a rub out with it though.

Here is a guitar with USL though that was rubbed out...

http://www.targetcoatings.com/forum/...758b7819dcbee4

They recommend polishing compounds more than traditional rubbing agents, such as this stuff...

http://www.targetcoatings.com/shop/p...sh-237-20.html