Thread: Wipe-on poly on alpine ash table

Most likely the original coating was a spray-on polyurethane; I can't imagine a mass market manufacturer using anything else in the last 20-30 years.

Are you intending to sand back to bare timber? If you are, it won't matter what the old finish was, as you'll have removed it. If you are just thinking of some spot repairs, then you may have adhesion and colour matching problems with the old finish. (clear poly runs all the way from amber-ish to blue-ish depending on the formulation).

The whole top and edges need to be sanded back to bare wood. I have tried several different furniture restoration products and also turps as recommended by Chiswell to try to patch up the worn spots, but they have not delivered the results I was after.


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I use Minwax wipe-on poly exclusively on all hard wearing surfaces, mostly coffee tables or dining tables. Coincidentally I am refinishing a Teak table top for a client right now.

Saw the Feast Watson at bunnings yesterday. I thought about it but I bought Minwax because I didn’t want any surprises. Plus Minwax has a very long shelf life so there's no need to change a winning formula.

My client wanted a satin finish and the table to be heat and water resistant. I spent most of yesterday removing the old finish using a cabinet scraper and sandpapers. Then I applied a coat of ubeaut sanding sealer and light sanded before I applied the first coat. They weather is good so I will be able to apply 1 cost per day. I also light sand between coat.

I highly recommend Minwax wipe-on poly.

Best of luck.

Originally Posted by Wongo

I use Minwax wipe-on poly exclusively on all hard wearing surfaces, mostly coffee tables or dining tables. Coincidentally I am refinishing a Teak table top for a client right now.

Saw the Feast Watson at bunnings yesterday. I thought about it but I bought Minwax because I didn’t want any surprises. Plus Minwax has a very long shelf life so there's no need to change a winning formula.

My client wanted a satin finish and the table to be heat and water resistant. I spent most of yesterday removing the old finish using a cabinet scraper and sandpapers. Then I applied a coat of ubeaut sanding sealer and light sanded before I applied the first coat. They weather is good so I will be able to apply 1 cost per day. I also light sand between coat.

I highly recommend Minwax wipe-on poly.

Best of luck.

Thanks, Wongo - very useful feedback. A couple of questions:
- What grit do you use for the final sanding?
- How many coats?
- What do you recommend your customers do for regular maintenance?

I bought a 946 ml can - will this suffice for a dining table? I may get an extra can - the local Bunnings sells it for $13

- 800 or 1000 wet and dry, or 0000 steelwool
- 5 to 7 coats
- Not needed

One tin is enough for many tables. I would say easily 6 to 7 dinning tables. Don’t buy another tin just because it is cheap. Unless you are planing to make many tables in the next 1-2 years or more than likely you will not get to use it. With any polyurethane I also buy the minimum because they do go off easily. I just threw away 1/3 tin of wipe-on poly after I brought it nearly 3 years ago, and I make furniture more than an average hobbyist.

Mine was marked as $29.95 but the the scanner charged me $25.

Originally Posted by Wongo

- 800 or 1000 wet and dry, or 0000 steelwool
- 5 to 7 coats
- Not needed

One tin is enough for many tables. I would say easily 6 to 7 dinning tables. Don’t buy another tin just because it is cheap. Unless you are planing to make many tables in the next 1-2 years or more than likely you will not get to use it. With any polyurethane I also buy the minimum because they do go off easily. I just threw away 1/3 tin of wipe-on poly after I brought it nearly 3 years ago, and I make furniture more than an average hobbyist.

Mine was marked as $29.95 but the the scanner charged me $25.

Thanks again for great advice - I'm new to finishing, as you can tell. I have ordered the U-beaut sanding sealer and have sanded down a piece of tasmanian oak for a trial run before getting to work on stripping the table.

Just for your benefit. This is the table I am working on. I spent a good part of Sunday to scrape and sand the old finish off. It has 5 coats on it so far. As you can see you can achieve a good result with polyurethane with a bit of patience and experience.

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Originally Posted by Munin

Our Chiswell alpine ash table needs a new finish on top and as the local Bunnings store carries both the Minwax and the Feast Watson wipe-on products, i am thinking this may be a possible solution. Does anyone have any experience with these products and alpine ash/tasmanian oak? I understand the coating is quite thin - is the finish durable enough for a table in daily use?
i have not been able to establish from Chiswell exactly what the original finish is - it has a satin appearance.

Munin

is your table solid wood or alpine ash/tassie oak veneer?

my inclination is to suspect the latter.

best to check before starting the sander

Still think a burnished oil finish is as good as Poly. (Easier to repair too.)

Regards,

Rob

Originally Posted by ian

is your table solid wood or alpine ash/tassie oak veneer?

my inclination is to suspect the latter.

best to check before starting the sander

The top is solid wood, with the pieces perpendicular to the length of the table, so there's a lot of end grain showing.

Originally Posted by Wongo

Just for your benefit. This is the table I am working on. I spent a good part of Sunday to scrape and sand the old finish off. It has 5 coats on it so far. As you can see you can achieve a good result with polyurethane with a bit of patience and experience.

IMG_0415.JPG

IMG_0414.jpg

IMG_0412.JPG

Most impressive. I applied the fifth coat to my test piece and it looks good. You mentioned removing the original finish with scraper and sandpaper - did you use anything to soften the finish before using the scraper? Ie. heat, stripper?

Rob,
I take your point about oil finishes and I want to experiment with oil, but I don't have the confidence in my capability with the ROS to tackle the dining table as the first project. The other limiting factor is the availability of Organoil HBO (I understand this is the benchmark when it comes to finishing oils) in my area - of the three suppliers on the manufacturer's list one went out of business months ago, the second told me bluntly they don't stock it and the third said they wouldn't order it because the minimum order is 12 cans - I don't want to spend project time on chasing down products that are so hard to get hold of.

No. Striper or heat makes the finish gluey and leave you a big mess. A cabinet scraper works best.

Originally Posted by LGS

Still think a burnished oil finish is as good as Poly. (Easier to repair too.)

Regards,

Rob

Rob, "as good" as ii good heat and water resistant? If so then I am willing to give it a go. Is not Organoil hard burnished oil is it?

Hi Wongo,

Hard burnished oil can give protection against radiant heat and liquid spills (hot and cold) if done correctly. There are a few oils which will work, some better than others. If you look at this thread, you'll see that I have done quite a bit of work with several oils and have posted results for each under a given set of circumstances. My personal choice is for Hard Burnishing Oil, or pure Tung Oil (Liberon or Sceney's) diluted 1:3 with Terbene or white Spirit. I'm sure Turps would work just as well. As with any finish, scarring or deep scratches need refinishing.
One of the nice things about burnished oil is that you can use "Spray and Wipe" as the cleaner of choice. But never Silicon waxes. These will kill the finish.

I would suggest if you want to try it out, get some Sceney's Pure Tung Oil and dilute it 1:2/1:3 with Terbene or White Spirit and give it a run as per my method in the thread I mentioned above. Use a piece of figured timber and this will show you how well the oil resolves the grain pattern.

I'll be interested in what you think.

Regards,

Rob