Reception desk – day 9
Just a quick post today. The first coat of wiping poly has had a full day to cure, so to prep for the second coat, I am gently sanding all of the finished surfaces with 400 grit sand paper. I usually use steel wool, but I have a lot of tight spots to sand and I am afraid the steel wool will get snagged and leave pieces behind. I would hate to find that I urethaned a few pieces of steel permanently to the desk.
Sanding down the first coat
Wiping off all the dust
The sanding removes any dust nibs or raised grain. The grain of the plywood has a tendency to raise up more, than the solid wood, when the finish is first applied. A light sanding assures that all of the surfaces feel equally smooth. I use an old tee-shirt to wipe away the dust, and I turned on my room filter to try to keep the dust from floating around and landing back on the wet surfaces.
Mixing a new batch of wiping poly
I mixed up a new batch of 50/50 Polyurethane/Naphtha and went to work.
Second coat goes on easier
Front done
The second coat went on much faster than the first. It also only required half of my jar of finish this time.
Rear done
Since the next two days are basically going to be repeats of today, I may not have anything to post on the desk. I do have another project that I will be starting shortly though…
Midnight Woodworking 