Waterlox Fumes - Baby's Cradle

[Ed Hebert]

Hi everyone-

I'm a novice woodworker, and I recently finished building the Baby Tender II cradle boat by Warren Jordan. I've attached a couple of photos of the boat.

Anyway, my question is about the finish. After reading good things about Waterlox here, I decided to try it on this project. I finished the inside of the boat with about 5-6 coats, applied one coat per day, in my basement (temp about 65°). After that, I finished with a coat of Minwax special dark wax.

That was about two weeks ago. As of today, the finish fumes are still noticeable. The baby's due in two weeks, and I wouldn't put him/her in the cradle with the fumes still outgassing. I'm now storing the cradle in the house, at about 72°.

Is this normal? Is there anything I can do to accelerate the remainder of the finish cure?

Thanks for any tips

Ed

[Mike Schmalzer]

I would suggest trying to heat the room up. I used Waterlox for most of my mesquite furniture when I lived in AZ. In the winter when it was cold in the shop (50-60) the stuff would take a whole day to set up for one wipe on application. But in the summer (about 85-95) the stuff would set before you could even wipe off. We used floor heaters and those bright halogen lamps to heat the piece up when we were in a hurry in the winter time.

[Lee Schierer]

I agree, get it warmer. Set it where the sun can get on it for a few days.

[Ed Hebert]

thanks for the tips, guys. Since the sun isn't too strong this time of year, I'll give that halogen lamp / space heater idea a shot.

[Lee Schierer]

thanks for the tips, guys. Since the sun isn't too strong this time of year, I'll give that halogen lamp / space heater idea a shot.

Be careful with halogen lights as they can get too hot. You wouldn't want a scortch mark on the boat!

[Scott Holmes]

If you had waited on the wax, or skipped it altogether (my advice) your finish would cure faster.

[Russ Massery]

I've found that Waterlox can take quite awhile to fully cure. I agree with J.Scott the wax is probably slowing the curing process. I did a couple of nightstands last year with Waterlox lying in bed I could smell the finish even after a couple of months. I still like the finish, but now I make my own. With
Varnish,Tung oil, Japan drier,and turpentine. I found it cures and dries a little quicker.

[Ed Hebert]

Thank you, guys. That's a good tip about the wax. Live and learn!

[Steve Schoene]

Wax can be removed in a jif. Use naptha and plenty of paper towels. Wax doesn't do anything except look good so it's not needed.

Then get the cradle into a really warm place for a while, to accelerate the cure" . If you can create a 90° spot for it, it will help speed things up considerably compared to the low 70's.

[Ed Hebert]

Steve-

Thanks for the tip on naptha. Is this only available as a specialty chemical or under a different name? Is this the same as stove fuel, or is that denatured alcohol? They didn't have it at the local hardware store...Are there any other chemicals that remove wax easily? Also, will naptha affect the underlying waterlox at all (i.e. dull it, etc?)

Thanks

[Jim Becker]

Ed the "naptha" that Steve refers to is available at the 'borg (or any paint store) in the same place you buy mineral spirits (paint thinner), alcohol and similar.

[Ed Hebert]

Thanks everyone for all your help. The naptha did the trick. I think the odd smell was from the wax itself. Here's a pic of the finished product.

[Joe Chritz]

Glad it worked out.

That is a cool looking cradle, nice job.

Joe