OK. Here's a new way to screw up a finish (with assistance, in my defense)
So I finally got my System Three S-1 clear penetrating epoxy sealer (took forever from the other coast), and put two coats on the leg rest and legs of my deck chair. It seemed a little tacky after the first coat, but by the directions I re-coated after about 14 hours.
The second coat remained tacky, and just wouldn't seem to cure. One day, two days, three days, four... still sticky, no cure. Totally stumped. It had been a little cold here, so I had the workshop heater on which kept it about 78 degrees and low humidity - still no cure. And I was totally meticulous to the 1:1 proportions.
I called System Three, and their excellent technicians spent a ton of time with me on the phone trying to troubleshoot the problem. Really kudos to them, BTW.
Finally today, when I was about to try out coating a new test piece, I noticed the problem. The company that sent me the S-1 had sent me two cans of hardener, and no cans of resin. What a shock - hardener alone doesn't harden. Aaaaarghhh!!!!!!! I just meticulously measured out an equal amount of each can, without looking at the front of the label.
I'm not listing the company that sent me the sealer by name, as it was an honest mistake, but it has meant that I won't get this completed in time for a competition it was to be entered in, and will add weeks of work for me, so I'm not happy.
So tonight, per System Three's suggestion, I spent a couple of hours wiping off the hardener with tons of lacquer thinner and paper towels.
My concerns are this - do I now have wood that is soaked on the interior with the hardener (it is, after all, a penetrating sealer)?
Will this interfere with the sealer keeping the wood protected once I receive the resin and can coat the surface with actual properly proportioned S-1 epoxy sealer? In other words, will the hardener prevent the subsequent sealer from properly penetrating the wood?
Of note, the wood has changed color (darkened, and accentuated the grain) as compared to the wood that has not been coated yet. I'm thinking that they will look identical once I coat the rest of the chair, but this also leads me to believe that there is hardener soaked into the mahogany.
Any thoughts on what I should do next, if anything?
