Thread: Using Vlies for finishing

What is happening? Are you getting a lot of raised grain?
That happens to my work. Lay on one coat (I like MinWax Tung Oil Protective Finish.)
Wait unti it goes hard and has no smell. In my house at about 70F/21C, that's about a week.

Next is a gently scrub with XXX coarse steel wool.
The key point here is that the steel fibers are FLAT.
Not round like the finer grades of steel wool.
No, the strands are so coarse that they don't break up much at all = go gently.
No, they don't break up and leave rust spots ( you wasted time with fine steel wool.)

The flat strands cut like a thousand chisels to cut off the raised grain.
Your finger tips will tell you when you're done.
Now, when you lay on fresh finish, the surface stays smooth.

It seems like it should work, not sure what the XXX equivalent is...the reason I haven’t got any to try for rubbing oil finishes is that it is a $50 trial for each grit because of the box price for a 10 pack.

Thanks Robson. No, its not raised grain, its streaks in the finish. When i watch videos by finishers they simply wipe on the poly then sand it off when dry and repeat many times to build up the finish. When i do this the final finish is dull in places and shiny in others which tells me that there are tiny valleys and ridges, but I'm not that confident to keep sanding in case I hit timber so I try the micro-mesh - again watching the video finishers it looks so straightforward... But when i try it just seems too fine to cut very far even with the coarser grits (about 800) as it is intended mostly for polishing anyway. Maybe I'll cut back more with a 400G Granat first and then come over with the micro meshes. By the way, do you have a source for MinWax. I used to get it from Masters, but now cannot find it anywhere? Cheers

Originally Posted by CharlieZ

By the way, do you have a source for MinWax. I used to get it from Masters, but now cannot find it anywhere? Cheers

Minwax (according to the checking and emails I sent a few months ago) is no longer available in Australia. Bear in mind, Robson is from Canada, and it's readily available there.

I don't know whether the stuff can safely be shipped, I guess the only potential option is Amazon USA or any one of the other usual suppliers (Rockler et al), but be prepared to pay for shipping!