[Steve Neul]

The way the grain looks in the picture I would be inclined to strip it off and start over. There is something wrong where as best as I can tell from the picture there are adhesion problems. I'm wondering how the table top was stripped and if you used a chemical remover if you got all the residue off.

Helmsman spar varnish is a very poor finish for a dining room table. The finish is intended to be used on exterior wood like a front door. It's formulated to be softer so it can expand and contract with the weather extreames of exterior wood. When you do use Helmsman don't thin it anymore than you have to. Unless I'm spraying it I don't thin it at all. The more you thin it, it screws with the sheen and makes it more prone to run.

A table top is something that shows any defects and brush marks. It would be better if you got the equipment to spray the finish. You don't have to buy the top of the line sprayers for wood finishes. I use a sprayer from harbor freight which costs about 25 bucks.

Anyway if you are going to brush the finish you could use Sherwin Williams interior oil based polyurethane. Use as soft a paint brush as you can find and brush each coat on as thin as possible with as few strokes as possible. If you overbrush it, it introduces more air in the finish and sets up faster and shows the brush marks more. Just brush it on and keep moving with it. It should flow out and level on it's own. If you miss a spot don't go back, catch it on the next coat. If you can find a supplier, Behlen Rock Hard Table Top Finish would be a better choice. It is formulated just for a table top.

 

[Steve Neul]

Perhaps it's just in the photography but these white places concern me. Normally a place like that appears when a finish doesn't adhere right. You see removers like Kleen Strip have paraffin in them to keep the methylene chloride from evaporating so fast. If this wax isn't thoroughly cleaned off the wax can prevent the new finish from adhering. I use Kleen Strip and it is intended to be a water wash remover. I normally use a 1500 psi power washer to remove the residue off. You can also use lacquer thinner frequently changing rags to get this residue off. If there is any doubt that there is some stripper left under the finish it might be worth your time to go ahead and take it off now while you are working on it.

If there is nothing wrong with the finish you have applied and don't have more than a coat of the Helmsman on you could coat over it with a oil based poly or the Behlen varnish. If you have a couple of coats of the Helmsman on I believe I would continue with that. It just won't wear as well as the other finishes. I know an elderly couple that have had Helmsman on their kitchen table since 2009 and it looks fine. Probably if they had young children they would have had to take it off by now. It just scratches easier.

 

[Steve Neul]

Looks good but I think I would wait a month before leaving those candle stands on the table. It could make indentations in the finish.

 

[Steve Neul]

Thanks Steve, yah the candles were for the pic, they are on a table runner now Thanks so much!

It takes a month for poly to fully harden. You have come through so much to get that finish on the table. I'm not sure the runners would give you enough protection. I've seen a heavy object sitting on a finish on a runner leave an imprint of the fabric texture in a finish. You may be alright. It just makes me nervous. I normally work with lacquer an even though it cures faster I normally tell my customers to baby the finish for a couple of weeks.