finish problem

[paul wiser]

having a problem with minwax wipe on poly drying. used mylands cellulose sanding sealer as a first coat. also put a second coat on. then put gloss wipe on poly over that. has been 24 hours and still will not dry. the woods used in the piece are walnut, maple, and bocote. anyone have an idea? emailed minwax with batch # to see if there was a problem. any help is appreciated. thank you

[Jim Becker]

Stop using the Mylands product. It has waxy shellac in it...and you cannot use that under anything containing polyurethane. There is no need to use a "sanding sealer" on woodworking projects, either. It just weakens the finish (they are quite soft) and provides little benefit. Almost all of the finishes we use these days can be used as their own sealer including the water bornes. The exception I make is when I use a dye...water soluble in my case. Then I do use de-waxed shellac to insure nothing subsequent bleeds the color.

Or, if you really want to use the Mylands product, switch to a non-poly varnish which will get you a much nicer finish, to boot. There is absolutely no reason to use polyurethane on anything other than floors for which it was developed...and the abrasion resistance that it was created for hinders buffing, too. If you can only get Minwax, the Antique Oil Finish is one of the nicest products going for turnings and one of the only products they make that I buy.

[Bernie Weishapl]

Ditto what Jim said. I used to use sanding sealer when I first started. I used wipe on poly and could not get it to dry. It just stayed tacky and this wasn't used on a oily wood either. I quit using sanding sealer and my finishes using wipe on or spray poly are much nicer. IMHO the woods looks better to me.

[Jim Becker]

Sanding sealer is pretty much a marketing ploy to get more of our money from something we don't really need...

[Art kraft]

sealers contain high solids and make the substrate non-absorbent and assist in making leveling by sanding easier. they help additional coats bond better,act as size coat and can help reduce blotching when staining. You want to use the sealer at a viscosity and temperature that will allow it to flow into the pores with a minimal amount on the flat surface. Nitrocellulouse sealers contain zinc stearate used to aid in sanding(white powder) when sanded. They cannot be used under polyurethane, conversion varnish or acid catalyzed finishes use vinyl sealers instead. Many top coat finishes have proprietary pre-catalyzed sealers. Pay close attention to the time stated by manufacture between coats for max adhesion. I use sealers and top coat with lacquer and if necessary buff with automotive products. The finish comes out glass smooth,mirror finish. One drawback is I can't get good pics because of the glare.

[paul wiser]

thanks to all who replied. since i already own the mylands sanding sealer, would i be able to use a friction polish with it? hate to throw it out!!! was not aware that it had material in it that would prevent poly drying. my day wasn't wasted today---I LEARNED SOMETHING!!!

[David Wilhelm]

Paul the mylands itself will buf and make a nice finish with a couple coats 0000 in between. And yes you can use Mylands friction with it. I read on here about needing to seal after BLO so i used mylands because i had it. Dipped in a soak with MS based varnish, blo and MS. Then rubbed with 50/50 spar/MS and it's gummy so I'm not sure what caused that been 3 weeks and there is no poly in anything. On another maple bowl it was gummy as well and i've wet sanded the finish back off.

[Bonnie Campbell]

Bacote was probably a big contributer to it not drying.... btdt. I just did up a bacote turkey call, and for the life of me I couldn't figure out why my spar finish wouldn't dry. I had wiped the pot down with acetone before coating as per any oily wood. Finally had to ask a pro. He told me to get some Zinsser Bullseye shellac sanding sealer, put at least two coats of that on before applying the spar. It's a totally wax free shellac. I'll post a picture of the call later on another thread once it's totally finished. But that Bullseye was a life saver!

[Paul Geer]

Mixing brands of finish products can cause the same problem as well.