Help Please, Waterlox confusion?

[Charlie Ross]

Howie will most likely agree this is well written and spot on for applying a wipe-on varnish. I use the same process...there is no reason to re-write it. Steve nailed it.

http://www.hardwoodlumberandmore.com...n-Varnish.aspx

Scott, in the last part of this article the author “Steve” wrote: “If the last three wipe-on coats dry a bit "rough" you can buff the finish. I will cover buffing varnish in a separate article”. I couldn’t find this article, does anyone know if it exists?

[Scott Holmes]

Probably his rubbing out a finish article.

In a nut shell...

Let the finish cure for ~30 days then wet sand from 600 all the way to 8000 or 12000 then polish with a polishing cream. This is really the only time to WET SAND the finish. Wet sanding between coats can lead to hazing and white spots IN the finish.

[Alan Lightstone]

Do a search for my long thread about my failed attempts to rub out a Waterlox finish. It may be possible, but it wasn't in my hands.

I love the look of Waterlox, but I learned to spray on a different top coat (on top of a Waterlox base for color and chatoyance) if I needed a rubbed out finish. For more satin surfaces, Waterlox works great and looks fantastic.

And resist the temptation to rub over any surface that you have already gone over. I can't tell you how many times I screwed that stage up. The perfectionist / OCD in me finds that difficult, but going over any areas seems to end poorly. Just fix things on subsequent coats.

I like Michael Pekovich's approach that was published in FWW in March/April edition of the magazine (and can be found online - Article name is "Wiping Varnish - The only Finish You’ll Ever Need" http://www.finewoodworking.com/how-t...ever-need.aspx ). Seems to work well in my hands, though I do have a number of subtle modifications.

[Warren Weckesser]

The link that Scott Holmes posted in 2013 is dead. This looks like the new location of the article: http://www.askhlm.com/Articles/Artic...n-Varnish.aspx

[Jerry Thompson]

Not to highjack the thread but I have a question. I plan on using Waterlox on a cherry piece. I had planned on applying 3-4 coats of OSV and then brush on one coat of Waterlox satin. Would I need to use the OSV at all?
What brand name brush would be best for the satin?
Thank you.

[Art Mann]

The instructions in this link are almost exactly the way I used to do it and I never got bad results. Right now, I spray lacquer or sometimes varnish instead but if I didn't have a sprayer, I would go right back to this technique. It is the most fool proof way of applying a transparent finish I know of.

The link that Scott Holmes posted in 2013 is dead. This looks like the new location of the article: http://www.askhlm.com/Articles/Artic...n-Varnish.aspx

[Bill Diehl]

We like Water Lox except for one problem. We used it to finish our butcher block counters and if we accidentally get baking soda on the Water Lox finished surface when we use it to brush our teeth or for cooking, the baking soda stains the wood a dark brown. It seems that sodium bicarbonate passes right through the finish for some reason. So don't use Water Lox if you are going to be using baking soda any where near the surface that is finished with this product.