ARS not settling well

[Eric.]

Seven coats is just a waste of time.  If you need that much of a film you might as well use straight poly for at least one coat.  The advantage of ARS is that it's thinned so you not only run less risk of streaking and lines and bubbles and runs and all the nasty things that come with using straight poly, but you also have more control over the thickness of the film you build so you don't build too much too quickly.  If someone is putting on seven coats of ARS, they don't understand the reason for the formulation.

I typically do three coats.  Sometimes I'll do four coats on horizontal surfaces that will take a little abuse.  Any more than that and the film starts looking too thick for my taste.  I like very natural finishes.  Straight oil is my preferred finish but I have two little kids in the house so I compromise with ARS.

Here's a few recent projects, all satin ARS...

 

 

 

[bushwacked]

yes 7 does seem like overkill .... I subscribe to Eric's theory of 3, 4 at most 

[estesbubba]

A lot of finishes will start to look plasticy after so many coats, especially gloss poly. I've used Waterlox for over 10 years which is a wiping varnish just like ARS. I use Scott rags in a box to wipe it on. The key is to not over-work it - get a thin coat on quickly and leave it alone. Doing this I can apply 2 coats a day - in the morning and evening. If you get it too thick then you'll have to wait 24 hours. Generally you can go by the look and not by counting coats and some woods will build faster than others. 

Oh, and don't wipe it off! If you want a wipe off finish use a Danish oil (Watco). If you want to build up for some protection, use a varnish (poly) or wiping varnish (ARS or Waterlox). 

[MartinN]

Excellent.  Thank you again for all the help everyone and thank you for the pictures Eric. That helps a lot in being able to visualize when I have sufficient film on a piece. 

[Eric.]

No problem.  When ARS is done right, it just looks like wood with a sheen on it.  If it looks like wood encapsulated by plastic, you've used too much.  Finishing is always a compromise - a balancing act between appearance and protection.  I tend to err on the aesthetic side because I'd rather my pieces look good.  If they take a few extra dents because of it, so be it.  Furniture gets used and pieces will be blemished.  That's life.  At least they'll look like wood.  If I wanted plastic furniture I'd just shop at IKEA.

[Trip]

A lot of good posts on AaS and SaC in the last few days...

Should they be collected into an ArS sticky for those who come later?

 

Or maybe a ‘Methods of Work’ sub-area with best practices for various workflows? As good threads are created, they could be captured and preserved... Just in the past week, you'd have ArS, crack-filling, etc... Just a thought.

[Eric.]

It's a great idea Trip...unfortunately mods don't have the ability to pin threads...I don't think so anyway.  Marc would have to do it, and he's apparently still on turkey vaca.  I'll bring it up to him once he's back in wood world.

[TerryMcK]

Mods and mentors can create in the reference library - might be a good place to place a thread on ArS 

[MartinN]

For anyone using this as a reference down the road, I found this Youtube video from Matt at Woodwhisper which illustrates what everyone here has been saying. 

 

 

[TerryMcK]

On 1 December 2015 at 1:03 AM, K Cooper said:

Terry, how did you apply these?

Ken I must have missed your question. The sapele was initially sealed with a pore sealer. It appears the one I use isn't available in the US but there will be several similar pore fillers available that you can obtain.

I put the seal a cell on with a foam brush, wait a while, and then wipe off excess with a clean rag. After overnighting some light sanding and then apply subsequent coats of Arm R Seal with a rag folded over like a French polishing rubber, lightly wipe off any excess and again overnighting to cure with a light sanding between each coat to provide a key. 3 coats on every surface apart from the horizontals which get 4 for extra protection.

I find this formula works for me and if you leave it one or two weeks to harden off before final rubbing out you can get baby butt smooth finish. Very light polishing with 2000 or higher grit with mineral spirits for lube works (some people add a drop of mineral oil too but I don't bother) on furniture. Wipe off any white residue afterwards and you're done.

 

I've tried this method with waterbourne finishes too like GF Exterior 450 and GF Enduro and it works ok but sets up a lot quicker so wiping excess has to be sooner than oil based. However having said that Enduro Var produces better results when sprayed with HVLP. Rub out lube plain water maybe with a drop of detergent in again 2000 grit or above.