wood finishing problem

[karen12]

i recently built a small table and wanted to do a stain finish with polyetholene spray over it ,i sprayed too many coatings on it. i have been advised to lite sand and steel wool the finish applying bees wax,does anyone have a better idea? karen12 hubby

[daveW]

Iassume the reason you were asking this question was because the finnish had "runs" in it.....not rally much else you can do IF THIS IS THE CASE. gotta get everything leveled out so its nice and smooth and basically start over....i find that complete removal is not alway needed to restore an "oops" to a decent job. depending on the "oops" amount a considerable amount of elbow grease might be needed. next time, you will at least have the advantage of knowing what went wrong and be able to prevent it from re-occurng. We all make our share of "oops"....... Enjoy your hobby.

[Bill Wilson]

What exactly is the problem with the finish?

[karen12]

actually no runs . just lots of poly' due to the air presure and that the finish was flat . with no gloss , hard to tell when it was covered, if it werent for the air pressure there would be lots of runs..........gary

[Mayo Farmer]

I'm quite interested in this and a little confused. I'm assuming that the you had a good smooth surface when you sprayed and that it was gloss poly?

I've sprayed too much in a single coat and it's either formed runs, little puddles or when it's been too cool (wouldn't think this is the problem) the poly hasn't gone off. Any chance you have a duff can of poly?

[Bill Wilson]

What kind of look are you trying to achieve? What was the gloss of the spray finish you used? Gloss, semi-gloss, satin? Is the surface currently rough?

Just trying to get a handle on where you are at. The original suggestion to lightly sand and apply wax with steel wool would work if you find the current finish too glossy and rough to the touch. If you want a glossy finish and the current one is too dull, it may be as simple as applying a light coat or 2 of a gloss polyurethane (presuming you used semi-gloss or satin originally). Or you may want to go through the effort of rubbing out the finish, which involves several steps of sanding with progressively higher grit sandpaper and them buffing to the desired sheen with steel wool and buffing compound.

There are a lot of things that need to be considered, so bear with me as I ask so many questions.

[jigsue]

Beeswax is very soft (I know, we keep bees). If I were going to use wax, I would mix beeswax with Carnouba wax. What kind of finish are you looking for? I use matte spray acrylic varnish on lots of things. It is not incredibly shiny, just protects the finish. for a high gloss you need to sand between coats. However for furniture, I would not use this. I would either sand down and oil or use the wax as above.

Good luck
Sue