Sanding coats of Waterlox on Walnut

[Michael Yadfar]

I started applying Waterlox on walnut, before reading the need for grain filler. I however heard that people end up getting even coats on walnut after about six brush on. What I don't really understand is the sanding part which I read on another thread. From what I understand, you put on about three coats, even it out with sand paper, then put on three more. First of all, I don't really know if that's correct, and also don't know what grit to use or how much sanding is needed. On polyurethane, I used a couple of light passes with 220 grit between coats, and that worked well.

[Bill McNiel]

Waterlox Original on Walnut. No grain filler or additional sanding between coats. Three coats, just rubbed on/in, wait for 10 minutes or so for the majority to absorb and wipe off excess.

288.jpg

[Scott Holmes]

Waterlox is varnish; brush it on and leave it alone. Wipe-on wipe-off is the technique for an oil/varnish blend aka Watco or Danish oil, both of which are in-the-wood finishes not varnish. Varnish is a film forming finish.

[Bill McNiel]

Scott knows alot more about finishes than I. Most everything I do is the result of trial and error with the successful attempts gaining a foothold.

Michael - please see Scott's comments on Steve querry re. Waterlox vs. Teak Oil.

[Andrew Pitonyak]

I have heard about apply it, sand it, in the context of...

You apply a finish that on a wood (like red oak) with big "holes" / pores. The finish falls into these large pores and that leaves a rough surface because it telegraphs to the surface. So, you sand off the finish on the top, leaving the finish in the pores. You do this enough, and you end up with a smooth surface.

If you use a grain filler, then you have prefilled those pores. I understand that some finishes may shrink over time and grain filler does not. So, if it shrinks, then things will still telegraph back to the surface.

Generally, I am sanding to remove things like dust that has settled on the finish (and similar) rather than to build finish in the pores.

[Steve Schoene]

You can fill pores by the method you outlined. It gives good results, in part because the varnish is relatively transparent in the pores. There is a draw back. Varnish shrinks as it cures so if you achieve a smooth surface over the course of a week, a few weeks later you will see slight depressions over the pores. It really takes close to a month to really get sufficient cure, depending somewhat on the temperatures where the piece will be curing.

By the way, while using varnish to build films is "standard", there really isn't any reason not to use the apply and then wipe off method. It just won't give much of the special benefits of varnish, but with such thin application it will act only a degree more durable than a oil/varnish mix.