Final Buff Out for Dining Table Finish?

[Len Rosenberg]

I refinished a red oak kitchen table top, sanded to bare wood, one coat General Finishes Seal-A-Cell, one coat clear grain filler, and three coats General Finishes ArmRSeal Oil and Urethane Top Coat, semi-gloss. My usual final step for furniture is to buff out with 500 grit to 800 grit sand paper, and apply a coat of paste wax for a silky smooth touch and nice sheen. But this is my first kitchen/dining table, and coffee mugs, glasses, etc. will surely leave instant marks in a wax finish. Is there a way to buff out the dust nibs on the final coat of ArmRSeal and get a nice smooth sheen without applying paste wax?

Thanks in advance for any advice.

Len

[Prashun Patel]

Yes. Instead of applying your final coat of wax, apply a final cost of arm r seal.

[Len Rosenberg]

Thanks, but every coat has dust nibs etc after it dries. If I sand them out I get fine scratches and lose the sheen. I've heard something about rubbing out with a brown paper bag but don't know exactly what kind of paper that is or whether it will work on oil/urethane.

[Prashun Patel]

Any sandwich brown bag can work for that.

IMHO a better choice is what I suggest below. If you are getting nibs in that final coat you are putting the coat on too long thick. Try thinning it 10 to 25 pct with mineral spirits and putting it on thin and quick. You may need two coats. The goal is only to restore shine at that point and not to lay down a coat of any appreciable thickness.

You want to move quickly and broadly. Use a full size shop towel, and wipe down like you work at the diner and are cleaning a table for the next customer. Quick and don't over wipe. Working with the thinned coat will demand you move quickly so as not to introduc streaks.

It may take two coats after That final sanding.

[John TenEyck]

It's a bit more work, but you can use abrasives to get what you want. Start out at 800 or 1000 grit, and work on up to whatever sheen you want. You can use MicroMesh or 3M's Trizact products, probably others, all on your ROS or by hand. No wax required. Another option is to stop at 1500 or 2000 grit and then switch to automotive polishing compound. With either approach the sheen will be real and won't go away when the wax wears off, nor will a wet mug leave a ring in it.

John

[william watts]

My experience is the same as yours, dust nibs in the finish with Armrseal oil-urethane. The brown paper bag technique worked great. I used a piece of grocery bag cut to fit on a felt pad block, and used mineral spirts for a lubricant. The oil-urethane, once dry, is not effected by the mineral spirts. Read that in Flexners book. This did leave a silky smooth touch to the finish on a stereo cabinet I built 2-3 years ago.

Bill