Popular Woodworking 2005-11 № 151, страница 78

sandpaper, which includes a soap-type lubricant to resist clogging. Sand just enough so the surface feels smooth. Don't sand through to the wood.

Dust the surface using a vacuum or a tack (sticky-varnish) cloth you can buy at paint stores, and apply another coat in the same manner as the first. Continuing with the same steps, apply as many coats as you need to achieve the look you want.

Don't sand the last coat. Instead, if there are some dust nibs that you can feel, simply rub the surface lightly with a brown paper bag. This will smooth over the dust nibs so that you don't feel them anymore (though you may still be able to see the flaws in a reflected light).

Because you are wiping off the excess, you may need to apply five or more coats to get enough build for a nice-looking finish. To reduce the number of coats, simply leave more of the wiping varnish on the surface. In other words, don't wipe off as much of the excess.

To get an even faster build, brush the wiping varnish and leave it just as you would full-strength varnish. The finish will collect more dust nibs this way because it will take longer to dry. But it will level well (as long as it has been thinned enough), and you can always sand out the dust nib s and apply a thinner final coat to achieve near perfection.

You can get an even faster build by brushing several coats of full-strength varnish, and then sand the surface level to remove brush marks and dust nibs. Finally, apply a final coat or two of wiping varnish, which you mostly wipe off.

If you apply a coat of wiping varnish, or full-strength varnish for that matter, and the varnish doesn't level well, bubbles don't pop out, or excessive dust collects on the surface, you can remove

After sanding the wood to remove machine marks and other flaws, use a cloth to wipe on a wet coat of wiping varnish. You can control the wetness of the cloth to apply an evenly wet coat of finish everywhere. Otherwise, come back over with a drier cloth and even out the thickness or totally remove the excess. You can also use a brush for application, of course, but I find that using a cloth is much faster unless you intend to leave all the excess.

After each coat has cured hard enough so it powders when sanded (four hours to overnight, with the time being longer the thicker the finish and the lower the room temperature), hand sand the finish smooth. Remove the raised grain after the first coat, and dust nibs after all coats. Use the finest grit that will remove the roughness efficiently - usually #280 to #400 grit. Don't sand more than necessary to make the surface feel smooth or you might sand through.

After removing the sanding dust using a "tack cloth" or vacuum (so as not to stir up dust in the air), brush or wipe on another coat of wiping varnish. Brush and leave the excess if you want to build the thickness with fewer coats. Wipe and remove part or all of the excess if you are trying to keep the finish build thin, or if you are having problems with brush marks, bubbles or too much dust sticking to the wet finish.

the still uncured finish for up to an hour or so by wiping with a rag soaked with mineral spirits or naphtha. You won't damage the cured finish underneath.

At any time in the life of the finish, you can recoat with more wiping varnish to "renew" the surface. Just be sure that the surface is clean and dull - clean of grease and other foreign material and not glossy. One method of achieving this is to wash the surface with detergent, and then lightly sand or use steel wool. PW

If dust nibs remain in the finish after the final coat, rub the surface lightly with a brown paper bag. The paper is abrasive enough to smooth over the nibs, but not so abrasive that it leaves scratches in the finish. Be sure the finish has thoroughly hardened before doing this.

popularwoodworking.com

75