Hi everyone
A friend asked me if I would refinish his front doors. They face east getting LOTS of Florida sun. They were pretty beat up from years of neglect, had peeled/no varnish on them plus a wonderful patina of salt spray, crusted plant material etc. I should have taken pics!
The Festool Rotex and the Multimaster took care of the old finish just fine (well as fine as he wanted, I couldn't sand off enough mahogany to get it back to pristine condition).
I sealed and put four coats of Interlux Schooner gloss varnish on them, after the second coat I sanded with 400 grit paper. Had him look at the progress and he said "it is too shiny" I never heard of anyone saying that varnish on a boat was "too shiny" and that was the level of finish I was shooting for.
Actually it wasn't a problem because I needed to put more coats on anyway to get maximum protection/longevity, so I bought a can of Interlux Schooner satin varnish for the final coat.
I have been told that if you want a satin finish you should build the foundation coats with gloss and then just do the top coat with the satin; this avoids a "milky" appearance that can be caused by the additive that gives the varnish the satin appearance.
Just finished the top coat and things are drying. I'm concerned that it will still be "too shiny". Never having had to "dull down" a varnish finish before I am starting to worry a bit, Do I just rub it out with 000 steel wool? Will that leave scratches?
Thanks for your help
Jay