Shopsmith Forums

I’m redoing a very old table top for a neighbor. Made a trestle base and she wants a clear finish on top. I had no problems sanding the bottom but after sanding the top and cleaning the top and cleaning with water/denatured alcohol. I applied on thin coat of arm r seal. I have some places that feel tacky. Let it dry for 24 hours sanded with 220 paper but still tacky in places I have no idea what finishes have been on the top over the last 80+ years. Most of the area is fine but I’m afraid to add another coat. Suggestions?

I’ve read that Arm-R-Seal won’t cure on oily woods. If you wind up having to re-refinish the top, I’d say strip it, clean it well with acetone, and then apply a barrier coat of de-waxed shellac before top-coating with Arm-R-Seal.

I find that urethanes like that should dry. Some brands seem to take longer to fully dry than others. I would just give it more time.
My favorite urethane is Minwax fast drying urethane. Right now I'm using a can of Varathane brand, and it does take longer to dry than the Minwax product. When this can is empty, I'll go back to Minwax because I get multiple coats on quicker.

thanks it's been drying for 3 days now in my garage (Houston Tx) 90* yesterday it's just tacky in spots not the overall top

Humidity is also a big factor in drying time. If you are suffering with high humidity, it could be slowing it down.

I had 2 small projects do the same thing over winter ,both bare wood ,1 cherry ,1 oak, neither had a previous finish , sanded it down again with higher grit paper , wiped 1 with denatured alcohol ,and 1 with acetone , both worked on the second go around ,both were finished with tong oil , we had a few rattle cans of lacquer act up over winter , the projects turned white powder like when it dried , was told it was caused by temperature .