Touch up finishing in one spot


STL Woodguy

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I've been working on a custom PC / gaming console wood case all month and at the finishing process. Rather than spraying, I have been finishing using a wiping varnish to keep the process controlled and not have any overspray or finish enter the inside of the case (lined with aluminum). Anyway, before bed last night I finally arrived at the final topcoat. Made a mixture of Arm-R-Seal and Naptha and carefully wiped on a thin topcoat, taking another wiping pass in case of runs or drips as been my process.

 

Woke up and darted down to the shop like a kid on Christmas and looked over everything carefully. Pleased as punch over the glass smooth surface all over, I dry assembled the unit and took one last look over it. And then I reached the point in the picture and threw out the explicits.

 

The raking light is kind of blowing it out but you can kind of see it: at the right angle you can see a small line of drips going up. (That part of the case was turned upside down while drying.) Because that part was low to the table, I could not easily spot the issue early with the light and while I made passes with the pad, I must have missed some parts.

 

I can go to work with sandpaper/razor to smooth that back out and apply another even coat of finish to the entire piece, but I'd like to not risk compromising the rest of the sides which is perfect. The question is: could I get away with smoothing down that spot and lightly passing over that area with a little bit of finish in a 'touch-up' type manner, or will that look too glaring and I need to coat everything again to ensure an even finish?

post-6550-0-68536700-1412861082_thumb.jp

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I ended up splitting the difference between doing the spot and doing the whole thing and wiping a very fine coat on the front only, figuring if it didn't work I could always sand back down and do the whole thing. As it turns out, it ended up being the perfect crime and very pleased with it.

 

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Yes, a top concern while designing the case. The side vents the video card and the case, and there's a gap around the top of the lid that can take in and out air. (Somewhat adapted the idea from an earlier Mac Mini model.) Swapped in an SSD to save on space, take down noise, improve responsiveness and remove more heat. The inside is lined with aluminum.

 

Have tested and monitored the temperature under various scenarios - idle, under heavy load, outside entertainment center, inside, etc) and nearly everything was well within range. The CPU was the only thing running a little hotter than I'd like, but I still had the plain stock fan / heatsink that came with the processor so there was improvement needed there anyway. I've swapped it with a liquid cooler which made a major difference and the unit runs like a dream, very quiet.

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FYI you can slice the run off of most finishes without the need to refinish the entire project. This works especially well on flat projects. Go in to the bathroom and grab your razor. This won't work if you use one of those ladies disposable cartridge things with the fancy 10 blades, tilting heard and vibrating handle. Get yourself a real razor like grandpa used, a double edge safety razor. Hold the razor against the wood as if you were shaving your mug and just shave off the run after it has hardened of course. Adjust the handle angle to change the depth of cut. It won't cut past the rest of the finish it will just slice off very thin layers like a plane.

 

Practice makes perfect.

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