Refinishing cribbage board from oil+paste wax -> wiping varnish = problems

[John W Henderson]

I made a cribbage board for a friend and finished it fairly simply with Watco oil followed by several coats of Minwax paste wax. I recently finished another board which was done with wiping varnish and was much more glossy. He saw that one and I could tell he liked it enough that I asked him if he's like me to refinish his. He said he would. Not a big deal. I lightly sanded the whole thing with 180 and then 280 grit. Then I wiped clean with some mineral spirits, let dry, and followed with my first new coat of General Finishes Oil & Urethane semi-gloss topcoat.

After eight hours, I applied a second. These are very light, thin coats. Just dampened an old t-shirt, wiped on extremely lightly and let sit. I noticed that the first coat felt just barely sticky. So little that I doubted I was really feeling it. After the second coat, I let it sit for a full 24 hours and it's definitely still sticky. I picked up rag and wiped with a lot of pressure and the finish smudged. Something is definitely wrong.

I'm thinking I needed to do more than sand to get rid of that oil+wax and that it's possibly preventing the finish from curing properly. Does anyone have experience with something like this? What could I try? Some type of finish remover to really clean everything up?

Thanks for any suggestions.

[Scott Holmes]

Putting a poly (General Finishes Oil & Urethane semi-gloss is just a fancy name for semi-gloss poly) over a waxed surface is asking for trouble. Clean it with mineral spiritis and lots of clean rags. You may even want to use lacquer thinner to clean it...

[Bruce Page]

I agree with Scott. A waxed surface can be a bear to refinish. I would clean it thoroughly with denatured alcohol and then clean it again.

[Howard Acheson]

>>>> I'm thinking I needed to do more than sand to get rid of that oil+wax

Good thinking. The residual wax is contaminating the new finish. You need to do more to get it removed. I suggest you use a chemical paint stripper containing methylene chloride. Follow the directions on the label. Even that may not get all the wax off. Therefore, apply a barrier coat of dewaxed shellac. You can buy a spray can of Zinsser shellac at your local big box--it's dewaxed. Spray on an even coat, let it dry for an hour and apply a second coat. Let it dry a couple of hours and then apply your clear coat. Do not sand after either of the shellac coats or you will compromise the barrier you are trying to create. Put on your first coat of clear coat, let it fully dry and then scuff sand it with 320 paper mounted on a flat sanding block. Vacuum off the dust and wipe on a couple of more coats.

[John W Henderson]

Thanks for the feedback, all. I'm going to try the following and will post back:
-- lacquer thinner or methylene chloride or denatured alcohol (I'm going to google a bit to decide on which one to use)
-- Zinsser shellac
-- My General Finishes wiping varnish as planned.

I'll let you know how it goes.

Howard: is the shellac simply able to bond to the wax as well as the wiping varnish and thus it acts as some sort of "tie layer"? As in you can't stick directly to wax with varnish, but you can stick to wax with shellac, and then stick the varnish to the shellac?

[Scott Holmes]

John,

Shellac is the universal sealer. It will stick to almost anything and as long as the shellac is dewaxed the poly varnish will stick to it. Other non poly varnishes will stick to either dewaxed shellac or shellac that still has the wax.

Yes it is a barrier coat. Spraying is the best method to ensure you don't bring the wax to the surface.

[Howard Acheson]

>>>> but you can stick to wax with shellac, and then stick the varnish to the shellac?

Yes, if you get most of the wax off first.

I wouldn't use lacquer thinner or alcohol to remove any of the wax. All they will do is dissolve the wax allowing it to be more deeply drawn into the wood. The chemical stripper with methylene chloride will dissolve the wax and keep it on the surface allowing you to scrap it off.

Another thing I just thought of. The Watco you applied created a weak barrier to the wax. Therefore, I would start by using a cabinet scraper and scraping the surface of the board. This should scrape off a good portion of the wax. Then go to the chemical stripper.

[John W Henderson]

@Scott Holmes: Thanks for the input. I'm assuming you can tell I'm an absolute finishing novice by now?

@Howard: Thanks for the input. I leaned away from MC as it sounded like nasty stuff (not that lacquer thinner isn't, too). I have both lacquer thinner and shellac as of last night but waited to do anything until I got some nitrile gloves from work to use to work with it. The board felt and looked like unfinished wood when I was done sanding; I may just try the lacquer thinner + shellac option, using many clean paper towels to continue absorbing the dissolved wax, perhaps followed by another light sand to eliminate the potential wax film that might result from dissolving it.

[John W Henderson]

Alright. Got gloves and my organic vapor mask and cleaned that guy up last night. Went very well. I used a bunch of paper towels and just kept wiping it down with fresh areas until it stopped being [too] brown. I went to apply the shellac and it's kind of "pebbly"/speckly/orange-peely. I waited until it was hard, sanded it a bit, and tried again, this time a bit closer, as I thought the droplets were drying too much in the air and not wetting out.

That stuff is just darn hard to work with. I either risk obvious build up where it flows to an edge and kind of pools along the feature and/or sags as it dries on vertical surfaces, or it's waaaay textured.

Any tips on working with this stuff? I've got it sanded smooth again and am just going to try my luck with my General Finishes stuff over the top now. The board looked pretty good with shellac, but that texture is just killing me.

[Howard Acheson]

Scuff sand the shellac smooth with 320 paper. Then dust and apply your clear coats. It will be fine.

[John W Henderson]

Howard, it was fine! I had it sanded/scuffed, put on my General Finishes, and just checked it this morning and it's fully set (can't scratch it with a fingernail)! I was worried. At about 5 hours after a very thin coat, it was still a bit sticky which made me think there was still some wax interaction going on, but it worked. Thanks so much for all the input everyone! I'll get pictures of the final product in hopefully a week or two and post back. Many thanks to all!