spraying clear coat on wiping varnish?

[outofstepper]

Greets all,

recently built a small table and tried my first wiping varnish.

I'm not in the U.S. and my ingredients were a bit limited.. here's what I used:

1/4 BLO

1/4 varnish (sold as a "high gloss" -- oil based)

2/4 turpentine.

I put on three coats.. first with a clean rag, then with some fine steel wool,

and finally with 1000 grit wet/dry sand paper.

The finish is nice; the character of the wood really came alive.

Thing is, its not as "high gloss" as I'd like. I thought I could remix a

wiping varnish with more varnish / less oil.. but then I got to thinking

if I couldn't just cut to the chase and spray on the high gloss clear coat?

Is this a bad idea?

Should I wait for the oil to dry? (its currently dry to the touch .. but its only

been a day or so).

Any help greatly appreciated.

-Tony

[HolzMechaniker]

I think why you have more of a "satin" finish is due to the steel wool and sandpaper.

I would omit using them as to apply your concoction, and only between coats after all has dried.

[bois]

Your application process is definitely part of the problem. Even 1000 grit sand paper is too coarse to leave a high gloss finish. But you can always bring out a glossier sheen by rubbing out the finish. I typically do this even on a sprayed finish to give a nice even consistent finish. For a semi gloss you can rub with two grits of pumice stone but for a gloss you want to up to rottenstone. Just make sure with an oil varnish you give it time to cure. It should be done off-gassing with no oily odor any more.