Kevin MCMahon

Definitely. If I had it to do over, I'd go BLO and then straight to ARS. I'll keep this in mind as I try out other projects. Or, who knows, I may find myself stripping this walnut and starting over. I sure hope not, though. First, the other intervening steps to try and bring it back. Regardless, thanks Eric. Kevin

Thanks, Ace. I'll follow that method. Also, Mike you're right about the gray walnut from a Owl. I felt like the BLO gave it some life. I also liked BLO better than just arm r seal alone. Just my preference after some tests. As for the dewaxed shellac, I guess lesson learned there. I'm new to this work and was following a finish protocol I found online in a few places. More research in the future. I'm a hobbiest and can't get back to this until the weekend. But, I'll try to post some pictures of the problem I'm having and tgen let you guys know how it works out with sanding, better stirring and thinner layers upon reapplication. Thanks again for all your help. Kevin

Wow! Thank you very much for the responses. It's a relief to think I might be able to recover from this. The dewaxed shellac was part of a finishing protocol I was following that I read about it in a few places. When input it on, it seemed to generate a little more clarity. Ironic, give my results now. As somebody suggested, I may also have put it on too thick. I will sand it down a bit and reapply thinner coats, perhaps using the wipe on method rather than the foam brushes. in wiping on Arm r seal , are there any pitfalls to be aware of, or general suggestions for the process such as temperature, amount on rag, etc.? Thanks again for your help. It's a relief to not feel so in the dark. Kevin Good point about arm r seal. I have young kids and was looking for a decent amount of protection for this first real project. But, perhaps I'm getting what I asked for. Still, I've used it before with better results. I forgot to mention in my last post that the lack of mixing also makes sense to me. I may have been rushing it a bit too much and forgot to mix frequently. i will sand it back a bit, mix well and reapply on thinner coats. Thank you vet much for all your help. Kevin

Hi Everyone, I'm new to this group and to woodworking. I'm in the process of finishing my first "real" furniture project. I'm using walnut to create a media cabinet. I bought the walnut from Owl Hardwood. I believe it's kiln dried. The project was going great until the finishing phase. Here's what I've done: a light layer of boiled linseed oil (BLO), followed by dewaxed shellac (Seal Coat from Zinsser), then one layer of General Finishes Arm R Seal satin - light sanding, then another layer of Arm R Seal satin. This is where the problem came in. The second layer produced a horrible plastic appearance. I went from a nice clear, grain showing finish to something that looked like it came out of a plastic assembly mold. That's a little exaggerated but it took on a terrible gloss and genuinely looked like raised grain plastic. I showed it to somebody at owl hardwood and they thought maybe the dewaxed shellac and arm r seal somehow interacted. Perhaps I sanded the first coat of arm r seal too much. Regardless, they suggested using steel wool to take off the gloss. This helped but I'm still left with the plastic look and lost the beautiful appearance of the wood. I tried sanding and refinishing but got the expected blotches of leftover finish the sanding hadn't reached. I'm now thinking I need to strip it all off and start over but would welcome any other suggestions, as the dropping temp in Chicago has me worried about finishing. Can anyone suggest an alternate path back to grain showing, satin finish? If not, can you recommend a varnish / shellac stripper? What am I in for there? Will it take off the BLO? Will it harm the wood , or make the newly applied finish cloudy? Will I have to do both sides of the wood, as only the outside did this plastic thing. I hadn't put dewaxed shellac on the inside. Perhaps that was the problem? Any help is greatly appreciated. I was so close to having a piece of furniture to be proud of and now I'm a little sick inside. Thank you, in advance, for your help. Kevin