pnevers Posted October 25, 2014 Report Share Posted October 25, 2014 I am finishing a project in which I used water-based dye to pop the grain on bird's eye maple, then I applied a couple thin coats of Zinnser dewaxed shellac (Spray can). I put on my first coat of wipe on poly, but before I did, I figured it would be necessary to lightly sand the shellac with 220 to get some physical bonding. I notice small scratch marks after the first poly coat has been applied. Will these go away with additional coats or wipe on poly or will they remain embedded in the shellac? I don't want to get to far along with the wipe on process only to find out that I need to backtrack and get ride of the scratch marks or start over with the shellac. I appreciate anyone's insight on this matter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick A McQuay Posted October 25, 2014 Report Share Posted October 25, 2014 Poly does not melt into itself like shellac and lacquer, so if you have air trapped or whatever you are seeing, it will not go away. If the scratch marks are on the surface of the finish, just sand them out. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Posted October 25, 2014 Report Share Posted October 25, 2014 Right, a light coat of poly right over the dye should be ok. I would be more worried with shellac since your dye may be alcohol soluble. At any rate, I sand with 320 between coats for the very reason that you describe; visible scratches. Mike gave good advice for the fix. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick A McQuay Posted October 25, 2014 Report Share Posted October 25, 2014 Water is just the carrier, dye is soluble in varnish, that's how toning works. I never brush or wipe a finish directly onto dye. - sent via Tapatalk 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pnevers Posted October 25, 2014 Author Report Share Posted October 25, 2014 Thanks gentlemen for taking the time to respond to my post. The scratches are not "really visible" per se. It was only when light hit the wood at a certain angle that I could see the scratch patterns. I have the project suspended from the ceiling for purposes of finishing and so it spins around. As I watch it slowly spins, I tilt my head to different angles to see how the finish was looking, and that's when I noticed the scratches. I was left wondering if the poly would fill them in or not. I did not sand down into the bare wood. I'm confident that the scratches are in the varnish. I am willing to sand down with 320 grit to remove thin poly coat (it was wipe on 1st coat, so not very thick at all), and then I'll be at the varnish. It's kind of a curvy project that has been completely varnish and would be difficult to uniformly remove the varnish, but I think I could smooth out the scratches in the varnish with fine sandpaper and then poly it. Next time, I'll go directly from dye to poly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pnevers Posted October 25, 2014 Author Report Share Posted October 25, 2014 Maybe I can buff out the varnish with 0000 woolite pad and then poly? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick A McQuay Posted October 26, 2014 Report Share Posted October 26, 2014 Yeah, if the scratches are in the poly just sand them out. The important thing with poly is that intermediate coats are smooth then you can buff the final coat to whatever luster you want. - sent via Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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