Shopsmith Forums

I live in Connecticut (near the shore). I turned my basement dehumidifier off for a few hours last night while working. The humidity went from 50% to 70%. Outside was higher still, to the point where it can rain without any clouds in the sky!

I know, Lover. The thing I'm sorry about is hijacking Uncle Snick's thread about his making of cash drawers for a worthwhile purpose at a High School.

I had thought it was interesting to contrast Uncle's 100% humidity with how dry it is in the Desert.

Being fully aware of ERLover's tendency to post lots of words without first thinking or researching, I hesitated to post and possibly extend the sillyness. Sorry! I should have cut it off as soon as possible. 2% is low even for us - The next day we had a 3% humidity. Today it is up to 14%.

I think the guy that deserves an apology is Uncle Snick. He started a good thread about building nice cash drawers. This type of project may be very useful to other viewers of our forum.

Hi All,

No apology needed, I'm glad there are many people looking! Maybe someone has advice that could help me. It's probably a fng mistake but i don't know...

My issue is that the finish is super rough after the first coat of stain. I sanded all the pieces before assembly. I wanted the surface to be really smooth because people were going to be touching these with their hands a lot. I also gave a light sand over joint areas and then wiped it all down with a tack cloth before staining. I was satisfied that all the surfaces were nice and smooth. After the stain dried the surface feels like 60 grit sandpaper! I tried a light sanding with 220g sand paper and, in a different area, tried a light buffing with steel wool (Would have preferred 0000 but only had 000). I wasn't able to get the surface anywhere near acceptable again. I have 3 stained and 3 unstained. If I need to I will remake the 3 unstained. Below is a picture of the stain I used and a sample piece. Would appreciate any advice anyone has to share. Thanks

I am a MinWax guy but never used that product, sounds by your results in is water based to raise the grain like you experienced. Look at the clean up instructions, if water, water based, if oil based mineral spirits, it wont raise the grain.
So with that said, I used MinWax oil based stains, and never had a grain raising issue. Even with there water based Poly after the oil stain.
I would never use a use in one, it is like the paint companies that advertise paint and primer in one. No way, cant be done, primer seals and leaves a course texture for the paint to adhere to better then the raw material.

Pretty sure that is oil based. I have the same product in my shop, same look to the label. I have found that to be a dust magnet while drying. Airborne dust can settle on the wet or tacky finish, making it rough as you described. II would wet sand between coats. Apply the final coat with cheesecloth, not a brush and make it a light coat. Works for me. Good luck!

Did you use a foam brush??? Open foam denigrates in oil based, need a closed foam.

Ah Shucks, Uncle Snick
I looked at the reviews of this Minwax product. Not Good! Lots of frustraation. https://www.amazon.com/Minwax-61380-Pol ... B000C010S4

There are several recommendations on using this finish. Hope they work for you.

I prefer to use water based clear finish over Watco stain. These have always worked for me. Need to wipe down the stain after flooding the wood with it. Wipe more if seepage occurs. Then wait a couple days after the staining to apply the clear finish. Then at least three coats, followed by a light sanding after each coat. I use foam brushes.

I used this crap several years ago on some Toys for Tots projects and it ruined the appearance of all of them. We (the club) were almost embarrassed to give them to the drive!!! I agree with all of the reviewers on the Amazon site. This stuff is junk.
Bill V