[MrDantastic]

Hey Everyone,

I was thinking about making some wooden hotplates for a christmas gift. I am at the point now where I am ready to finish them, but then I had a flashback of eating soup with my girlfriend on her mother's antique coffee table. This left a giant foggy looking circle on the finish. So my question is, if I put a coat of polyurethane on the hotplate, will it get foggy like the coffee table?

Also, if anyone knows how to get the marks off the coffee table, that would be great.

-Dan

[Carol]

The foggy spot is moisture under the finish. If it is commercial table the finish is likely a lacquer. To get the flush out, get some lacquer thinner. Use rubber gloves. Dampen a rag with the thinner and lightly 'dust' the spot. Do not rub hard. Sort of wave it over the spot barely touching it. If it is lacquer the spot should disappear with a little effort. If it is a varnish, try mineral spirits with the same technique.

As for Poly-anything. It has never been my favorite finish. It is too plastic looking for my tastes, not at all forgiving with the application and totally un-repairable. For furniture, my favorite finish has always been no stain, oil to 'pop' the grain, allow a week or more to cure, then sprayed lacquer. Beautiful, easy, and totally repairable.

Carol, with 50 years of furniture building under her belt, 21 years as a professional, now learning carving - no more furniture - too big - can't manage it any longer.

[Thor]

I've been watching this thread to see what someone said as an answer.
Carol, I'm so glad you're here.....thanks for a lesson in finishes. I experiment a lot, and I've used boiled linseed oil, oil stains, acrylic stains, gilding, watercolor stains with spray varnish, tung oil, mineral oil, orange shellac, and minwax....I've never tryed lacquer.
Is it difficult to get an even finish? and do you have a professional sprayer or do you use a spray can for small pieces?
Thanks in advance for your expertise.
Also, do you have any of your furniture pieces on the internet anywhere? I would like to seeyour work. I know your situation from another thread. I'm sure you'll be an incredible carver.
Thor

[Carol]

Glad to help. I do have a professional HVLP sprayer but don't plan to use it with a small carving! I will use a spray can. There is a technique to spraying, whether from a can or a gun.

Here are some guidelines. The nozzle must remain parallel with the surface being sprayed. The nozzle must be perpendicular to the surface at all times. The nozzle must remain the same distance from the surface for the entire pass. The path of spraying must be smooth, no changing speeds! Hold the trigger down until you have sprayed off the edge. Release. Prepare to reverse paths. Pull the trigger before getting to the edge of the surface. Overlap the spray pattern by 20-25%, always spraying against a wet edge. After each coat, turn the piece so your next coat is applied perpendicular to the previous one. Always rotate the work in the same direction, meaning after the fourth coat you will have rotated the piece a full circle.

All that said, any good finishing book that covers spraying will usually have drawings demonstrating this. I know my buddy Michael Dresdner has covered it. Practice on your driveway with a garden hose. First wave the nozzle and watch how the spray thins out on the ends. Then practice what I suggested above and see how the spray is the same intensity from end to end. Now you have the idea. When you get the can in your hand, it is the same thing on a much smaller scale!

As for pictures of my work, I don't have any on this computer and I do not have any posted on the web at this time. However, if your curiosity is such, you can seek out a copy of 'The Art of the Router" by Patrick Spielmann for some shots. There is some small stuff in my own book, 'Router Joinery Workshop', Sterling Publishing or available directly from me.

Come to think of it there are a couple of pictures on my laptop. Now I'll have to retrieve one and learn how to post it here. But I have finals coming up so it may be some time before I can find time to do that.

On the carving front, I plan to go to Rochester, MN this Saturday for a carving club meeting. WooHOO!