First project a flop. Must refinish.

magnaman · Post by **magnaman** » Tue Oct 25, 2011 8:35 pm

Again, thanks.
The one big thing I keep thinking about is why the door in picture 5 still looks like it does when the TV cabinet finish looked just as good when I moved it to the house.
The reason I used prestain was because of the oak plywood used for the shelves and ends. Also, I had end grain on some of the shelf trim pieces that were bullnosed.
I don't care for the oak plywood so in the future I will glue up any panels and that will also allow me to skip the prestain. For this project I had just gotten the Shopsmith and discovered on the door panels that the jointer makes the pieces straight and smooth as glass so panels are now fun to make.

As soon as I can get to it I will start the refinishing. But first I have to build a pergola and work on the workshop.

kalynzoo · Post by **kalynzoo** » Tue Oct 25, 2011 8:41 pm

Wow, that is beautiful work. Obviously you put a great deal of time, thought, and love into the project.
As suggested you can sand the blemished areas down to the wood and start again with the finish.
If you want to just try a quick fix (not the right way but it may work) you can try sanding down the poly with 320 paper. Then restain with gel-stain, using a soft brush and some finess to accentuate grain lines. You may needed to do this with several sessions allowing the stain to dry each time. Then recoat with poly. If this does not work to your satisfaction you can always sand everything back down to wood. I've used this paint-on-stain idea a few times to repair cabinet damage from flying toys.
Good Luck, and again, a great cabinet.

magnaman · Post by **magnaman** » Wed Oct 26, 2011 9:10 am

Thank you for the compliment. I wanted the piece to have a little style and not be just a box. I got the idea from the woodwork in our Tiffin motorhome. They use the bullnosed protruding end pieces on the cabinets.

I wish I could remember if I used polycrylic or polyurethane on the motorhome door. I swear this was the first time I had used the polycrylic but without records I can't be sure. I just consider myself lucky I can remember where the workshop is!!

Ed in Tampa · Post by **Ed in Tampa** » Wed Oct 26, 2011 11:41 am

magnaman wrote:Again, thanks.
The one big thing I keep thinking about is why the door in picture 5 still looks like it does when the TV cabinet finish looked just as good when I moved it to the house.
The reason I used prestain was because of the oak plywood used for the shelves and ends. Also, I had end grain on some of the shelf trim pieces that were bullnosed.
I don't care for the oak plywood so in the future I will glue up any panels and that will also allow me to skip the prestain. For this project I had just gotten the Shopsmith and discovered on the door panels that the jointer makes the pieces straight and smooth as glass so panels are now fun to make.

As soon as I can get to it I will start the refinishing. But first I have to build a pergola and work on the workshop.

Oak has very open pores and without sealing them you can have all kinds of problems. On especially high gloss finish if the pores aren't sealed the finish will look like it has pin holes in it. These usually appear after the piece is finished in the shop and it is placed in the home.

So to me you were absolutely correct to used a prestain. My favorite way to seal these pores is to use sanding dust mixed with a hardening oil. I do this as described above by wet sanding with 220, 300 or 440 (depending on gloss I want) then applying poly.

You say your cabinet looked good until later. When you first did the finish it looked good and even? If that is the case then problem is you did not give one layer or another time to fully dry. It is that simple.

Or you had silicone contamination on the wood. But every time I have ever seen this it was always after pre stain and stain had been applied and dried sufficiently. Is there any chance silicone got on the wood, either by exposed to it by you spraying something else in the shop or by using a silicone product on you saw or plane or tools?

The reason I ask is if it is just a problem with not allowing one of the products time to dry you can easily redo the area and expect good results. If on the other hand it is silicone contamination you have a problem. It is nearly impossible to get it out of wood fiber. My philosophy is if it says silicon on it I don't need it in my wood shop.

If you suspect it is silicon I would strip the areas wash them with acetone paint them with shellac and then try to stain them to match the rest of the cabinet. Let plenty of time to dry between chemical coats. Also if you wash them in acetone it will lift wood fiber so do a light sanding after doing this. Be careful it can bleach or blush the wood a little.
Good luck.

magnaman · Post by **magnaman** » Thu Oct 27, 2011 9:17 am

As far as I know there is no silicone contamination. I do use paste wax on my table saw surface but I have never had this finish problem before. As high as the humidity is here I believe the problem was probably drying times.
A test I am going to start this morning is to finish two scraps of oak. One with prestain, 3 coats of the water based stain, and 3 coats of polycrylic. The other with polyurethane topcoats. Then I will set them on the TV cabinet for a few months and see if one or both has any problems. By then I should be caught up on other projects and can refinish this cabinet.

JPG · Post by **JPG** » Thu Oct 27, 2011 10:28 am

magnaman wrote:As far as I know there is no silicone contamination. I do use paste wax on my table saw surface but I have never had this finish problem before. As high as the humidity is here I believe the problem was probably drying times.
A test I am going to start this morning is to finish two scraps of oak. One with prestain, 3 coats of the water based stain, and 3 coats of polycrylic. The other with polyurethane topcoats. Then I will set them on the TV cabinet for a few months and see if one or both has any problems. By then I should be caught up on other projects and can refinish this cabinet.

Sounds like a good plan! Step back and do not rush it!!!!!

Ed in Tampa · Post by **Ed in Tampa** » Thu Oct 27, 2011 12:00 pm

Don't set them on the cabinet. Oak is effected by UV and if you cover a place it can take a different shade from the uncovered area.

fjimp · Post by **fjimp** » Thu Oct 27, 2011 6:34 pm

magnaman wrote: I do use paste wax on my table saw surface

I am uncertain if this question has already been so apologize in advance if I missed something. When you say "Paste Wax" Is this the original Johnson's paste wax formula and does the version you use have any additives such as silicone? Fjimp

magnaman · Post by **magnaman** » Fri Oct 28, 2011 9:13 am

SC Johnson does not list silicone as an ingredient.

magnaman · Post by **magnaman** » Fri Oct 12, 2012 8:49 am

Just a followup. Last winter I refinished the cabinet and it turned out okay.
I finished restaining on a Tuesday afternoon and to allow drying time I didn't apply any Polycrylic until Sunday morning. The plywood shows a few signs of the old problem but not the oak panels or trim.
Regarding possible silicone contamination I don't think it could come from my shop but I don't know about wood bought at Lowes or HD.

If anyone on the forum knows of a place in east Central Florida to buy higher quality wood I would really appreciate the info.