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Wiping on water based poly


Snailman

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I do it all the time.  It is pretty thin to start with, so actually a little thinner than ideal.  Old cotton sock works great, and you learn to "dope" it just right to avoid drips.  Works really well on vertical surfaces (eg, my front door, in place).   In dry climate, and indoors, dries for recoat within an hour, so multiple light coats are convenient. 

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What Ron said about thinning it is true, more than the manufacturer allows and you screw with the chemistry of the finish. If it will work  without being diluted, give it a go. That said, Pete's experience is the first time I've ever seen anyone said it worked. Let us know how it turns out.

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I've been wiping on water based poly to finish my band saw boxes. The water based poly is quite thin to begin with. I turned to the water based finish because it dries faster and allows me to apply more coats over a shorter time period. After the first coat dries, I sand lightly, then sand very lightly after each 3 coats, and apply 2 final coats. Total of 9 coats.  You might want to try it on a scrap piece to see if you are satisfied with the results. 

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It may depend upon the product.   Mohawk makes a touch up w/b wiping product called Finish Up.  (Why Mohawk private names all things, I don't know, it's frustrating).   There is one guy who raves about it, but I think he was probably the developers, so "consider the source."

 

Guardsman also has one, but I was less impressed with it.

 

When working with oil-based finishes, you can mix and match to your heart's content - mineral spirits, linseed oil, and varnish in any proportion you want.  Those are the three main components in those products.


Water-borne finishes on the other hand, are a delicate balance up a dozen or more components -  resins, glycol ethers, water, surfactants, defoamers, etc.  You can't always just dump in water without a chance of upsetting that balance and having things go awry.    Some manufacturers make a dilutent for their product, many do not.

 

It works, apparently, for @It Was Al B and @PeteM .   They may have a specific product that is low viscosity enough to work, or have determined an allowable amount of thinner of some sort, for that product.

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Thanks for the input guys.  I'm using Varathane Semi Gloss. I opted to try wiping straight out of the can, using an old t-shirt.  My first impression was 'that was a mistake'.  I found it difficult to maintain an even coat as I went.  Dripping wasn't an issue.  The usual heavy accumulation in corners was a little heavier than I've gotten with oil based poly.

 

For the 2nd coat, I was going to take Gene's suggestion and switch to a painting pad, but then I thought, why change the technique before I tried wiping a 2nd coat.  So this time, I took another piece of old t-shirt, and dampened it slightly with water before applying.  Much better control on keeping the coat even.  I don't know it that was from the damp shirt, or just the way the Varathane responds to itself, but I'm satisfied with the result (and more importantly SWMBO is happy).

 

I'll post a couple of pics once I've got it all re-assembled.

 

Thanks again.

Paul

 

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On ‎11‎/‎26‎/‎2017 at 8:16 AM, Ron Dudelston said:

Looks great.  I didn't think it could be done. 

Neither did I :D.  There were a few tense moments when I started the application.  

 

Thanks for the compliments.  I hadn't used water based dye before this project.  I really liked the application, and it didn't seem to muddy the grain.  I used bulls eye sanding sealer that had an amber tone to it.  I was concerned my wife wouldn't like the amber tone, but she says she likes it (and I'm going with that!)

 

My only other experience with water born finish was sealing the inside of a pantry I built using minwax polycryllic.  I wasn't overly impressed with that application (seemed to raise the grain considerably), but it was the inside of a pantry with rolling shelves, so no one really sees or feels the inside of that carcass.

 

I'll definitely try this again, although, I may make up my own spit coat with blonde shellac next time.

 

 

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