Replies

1. 
   wallyo | Jan 05, 2008 10:04pm | #1

   I am guess you have a thick build up or a high sheen spot. When I have had this happen I used minerial sprits and rag or 3M pad and buffed it out. Then give another light coat to even things out.

1. 
   user-51823 | Jan 05, 2008 10:50pm | #3

   sticky pool? i'd do (and have done) what wallyo suggests. with min spirits, use fine steel wool, gently, or a rag with texture-- any material with tooth to load up the goo. buff and do over.

1. 
   llgun37 | Jan 06, 2008 02:36am | #4

   Thanks for the suggestions, yes glossy spots in seams where its difficult to sand. wetsanding and rubbing out, tho time consuming, seems to be what is needed. Wishin there was a faster way, oh well, dream on! Loren

1. 
   user-51823 | Jan 06, 2008 02:42am | #5

   no, no faster way. just remember in future to apply only enough to "work" one layer at a time and never let it just sit and expect it to absorb.

1. 
   jimblodgett | Jan 06, 2008 05:46am | #6

   Man, that Watco is some great stuff, though.  Isn't it?Ever wonder why "holistic" doesn't start with "w"?

2. 
   bobtim | Jan 06, 2008 07:16am | #7

   I've used a gazillion gallons of the the stuff, works great for me usually.

   remember when they quit making it for a year or so, around 1995 or so?

3. 
   user-51823 | Jan 06, 2008 07:44am | #8

   what was that about?

4. 
   wallyo | Jan 06, 2008 08:32am | #9

   they quit making it because of a law suit dateline or 20/20 did a spot. Couple stained some stuff threw the wet rags in a garbage sink under the sink went to bed the rags spontaniously cumbusted. Can not remember if anyone died there was a law suit. I think Minwax owns the brand now the present version is thiner then the older. Too bad it comes in so few colors my favorite finish is one to two coats of
   Watco followed by a coat of varathene H20 diamond finish.

5. 
   jimblodgett | Jan 06, 2008 09:46am | #10

   Hey!  You remember when it was going to be discontinued completely?  I think it was around the late 80s?  I raced out and bought as much as I could find...had like 8 gallons of the stuff! ("Natural", of course).

   Then Minwax did buy it, but if I remember right, they changed the formula or something, then switched back to "Original Formula".  Isn't that right?

   Red oak with a couple coats of Watco natural with a top coat of satin poly?  Oh man, now you're talking.  Did an entire kitchen that way in the early 90s, looks as good today as the day(s) I installed.

   I got a finish I use now on fir, pine and cedar I like even better than that, though.  Profin satin. Oh baby, that stuff toughens up those softwoods and skins over so thin you think it's not even there...brings out the warm tones beautifully.  Haven't tried it on oak yet, but I will next chance I get.  Don't care much for VOC content, though.  Of course, that's the downside to Watco, too. Ever wonder why "holistic" doesn't start with "w"?

6. 
   NickNukeEm | Jan 06, 2008 05:18pm | #11

   I've been using Watco for years, and also stocked up in the early 90s when it looked like they were going out of business.  In fact, I'm still have some of the old stuff.  I usually apply 3 coats of Watco.  Let it dry about 24-48 hours, then apply three or more coats of Old Villiage paste varnish, an oil-based fortified polyurethane paste.  Let that dry, then two or more coats of paste wax.  The finish is like silk.

   A cherry bookcase I just finished and installed for a client:

   View Image"I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul."  Invictus, by Henley.

7. 
   Doctor Science | Jan 06, 2008 07:15pm | #12

   Wow Nick! That's gorgeous!Frank

8. 
   jimblodgett | Jan 06, 2008 07:39pm | #13

   Yes, very nice. 

   Too bad about the way cherry darkens so severly as it ages.  If there were a way to keep it looking like that right there, I'd find a lot more uses for it.

    Ever wonder why "holistic" doesn't start with "w"?

9. 
   NickNukeEm | Jan 07, 2008 12:18am | #14

   I like cherry a lot, and prefer not to coat it with stain (except my own pencil-post bed, which is stained to match the rest of the furniture).  Whenever I make a piece from cherry for a client, they want it dark, like they see in the furniture stores.

   I finish it natural, and tell them it will mellow with age on its own. 

   This piece I designed and built  almost 15 years ago, and it hasn't darkened too much.

   (Granted, it doesn't go well with the pine...)

   View Image"I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul."  Invictus, by Henley.

10. 
    jimblodgett | Jan 07, 2008 01:06am | #17

    Yeah, that clock does look good, Nick.  Must not get much direct sunlight?  Lots of yellow and light red in that still.Ever wonder why "holistic" doesn't start with "w"?

11. 
    NickNukeEm | Jan 07, 2008 01:14am | #19

    Right, although the sunroom is just to the right past the LR.  The cherry hall table, made about 10 years ago, looks like the day I made it.  So keep it out of the sun and you're golden?  Or at least some pale shade of pink, lol.

     

     "I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul."  Invictus, by Henley.

12. 
    Sphere | Jan 07, 2008 12:47am | #15

    Silly question on your most excellent work.

    Is the farthest away side plywood with an edge? As is the middle divider?  Yet the facing side looks like a solid raised panel.Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks

    "Success is not spontaneous combustion, you have to set yourself on Fire"

13. 
    NickNukeEm | Jan 07, 2008 01:04am | #16

    Two layers of ply on outside ends,  the divider is a single layer of ply.  The top is 3/4 ply.  All plywood is double sided.

     "I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul."  Invictus, by Henley.

14. 
    Sphere | Jan 07, 2008 01:06am | #18

    I realized that was probably the deal after I posted.

    Excellent work.Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks

    "Success is not spontaneous combustion, you have to set yourself on Fire"

15. 
    NickNukeEm | Jan 07, 2008 01:52am | #20

    Lumber prices what they are...  20-25 years ago, I never used plywood in furniture, always bought the lumber, trued it up and glued it together to make the pieces for the carcass.  Not any more, with cherry lumber at over $7 a bf locally, that's even more than walnut, at 6.85 bf.

    But time is money, and plywood is faster.

    My next piece (for the same client) is a set of shelves that run along a wall, meeting in a corner.  The corner will be a separate unit, similar to a lazy-suzan kitchen cab.

    But it will be of oak to match the rest of the room furniture.  I hate oak.  But what ya gonna do?

     "I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul."  Invictus, by Henley.

16. 
    Sphere | Jan 07, 2008 02:11am | #21

    Same here. I made a few lamp tables of cherry for some sweet couple a decade ago or more. When it came where they wanted a corner hutch to match, the $$$ wasn't there..so I glued up and used solid beech..followed with antique cherry stain. Looked pretty doggone good if I say so myself!

    A few yrs later it seemed I was more and more willing to use sheet goods instead when possible..and now, almost exclusively unless someone has some DEEP pockets.

    Not fond of oak either..lucky we have plentiful Walnut and a glut of cherry. Horse farms noticed a birthrate problem, seems the catapillers that ate the cherry leaves, contaminate the under growth , horses eat the grass..premature foaling ensued.

    Thats one version of what is probably poorly explained by me. But the owners of many ,many trees had them felled and sold.Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks

    "Success is not spontaneous combustion, you have to set yourself on Fire"

2. 
   FastEddie | Jan 05, 2008 10:47pm | #2

   Let it cure for several days and then sand lightly with 200+ grit wet sandpaper.

   "Put your creed in your deed."   Emerson

   "When asked if you can do something, tell'em "Why certainly I can", then get busy and find a way to do it."  T. Roosevelt