[notbobvila]

I'm building a small laptop desk (pine) as a surprise for my girlfriend. This is my first venture into finishing wood. It's going great so far! I Have five coats of minwax clear gloss polyurethane on, it's almost done but I have some questions:

1. After my final coat of poly, how long should I let the pine cure? 30 days for best results?

2. Is any sanding required after the cure?

3. Should I buff & What kind of material is used to buff post cure stage?

4. For the final shine what is best used on minwax clear gloss polyurethane? Varnish, shellac, lacquer?

5. Anything else after the final shine? Are my steps in order, am I missing anything?

Thank you in advance for any advice!

 

[tc65]

There are no more steps needed. Put on the final coat and leave it alone. No sanding, no buffing, no other finishes needed. Polyurethane is a top coat and needs nothing else.

 

[notbobvila]

Thoughts on cure times? 30 days?

 

[Dave Paine]

Thoughts on cure times? 30 days?

The manufacturer should advise cure time on the can.

Typically a few days for oil based and a couple of weeks for water based. Humidity, temperature, number of coats, etc can vary the times.

 

[cabinetman]

There are no more steps needed. Put on the final coat and leave it alone. No sanding, no buffing, no other finishes needed. Polyurethane is a top coat and needs nothing else.

+1. :yes:

.

 

[cabinetman]

The manufacturer should advise cure time on the can.

Typically a few days for oil based and a couple of weeks for water based. Humidity, temperature, number of coats, etc can vary the times.

+1. :yes: When applying multiple coats, allow each application to cure. If an application is re-coated too soon, it will delay that previous coat from curing.

.

 

[notbobvila]

Crisis diverted. Thanks guys!

 

[Steve Neul]

If you are happy with the appearance there is no reason to do anything else to the table. If you wish to do further work, this time of year it would be best to wait a month before doing anything to the finish. If you desire a hand rubbed finish you could wet sand the finish with 1800 to 2000 grit sandpaper and bring the gloss sheen back with rubbing compound. I use 3m rubbing compound like you would use on a cars finish.

A note on your line 4, the polyurethane finish is a better finish than any of the finishes you have listed so you would degrade the project by using any of them especially the lacquer. Lacquer has such strong solvents in it that it may lift the polyurethane finish if applied over. Never put a lacquer product over a polyurethane.

 

[Al B Thayer]

I'm building a small laptop desk (pine) as a surprise for my girlfriend. This is my first venture into finishing wood. It's going great so far! I Have five coats of minwax clear gloss polyurethane on, it's almost done but I have some questions:

1. After my final coat of poly, how long should I let the pine cure? 30 days for best results?

2. Is any sanding required after the cure?

3. Should I buff & What kind of material is used to buff post cure stage?

4. For the final shine what is best used on minwax clear gloss polyurethane? Varnish, shellac, lacquer?

5. Anything else after the final shine? Are my steps in order, am I missing anything?

Thank you in advance for any advice!

IMHO your doing a good job and have protected the wood from just about anything. In the first picture it appears to be very shiny and shows brush marks. However faint, they should be removed or at best made less apparent. I would put some effort into rubbing it out to a less shiny finish. This will level out the brush marks somewhat too.

Al

Nails only hold themselves.

 

[notbobvila]

So glad I asked before doing something I shouldn't have. I'm still learning, thanks for teaching