Table top marks easliy! please help

Hello,

I just finished a table top which I think is made out of pine (i'm a total hack). I bought the table in poor condition and have just finished restoring it, I stripped and sanded back the original finish. Stained it then applied two coats of matt estapol then rubbed in danish oil with steel wool.

I just put the table into service and it marks VERY easily.. The finishs looks great and im very happy with it but it is not going to last long.. you can mark it with your finger nail, and a beer bottle will leave little daisy marks behind. Please tell me how I can toughen this table on top of the finish I have already applied? Would minwax wipe on polly help at all? Can I just apply extra coats of polly over the top now that I have used danish oil on it? I tought that by using estapol on the table that would toughen it, why has the 2 coats of matt estapol failed to toughen the surface?

Thanks for any advice
Cheers
-Ben

How long since you finished applying the last coat?

5 days..

I personally think your at the point of no return, going on will not give you a finish with intergity.

I think your better off if you strip it off and re-do it from the raw wood up, this time select one of Ubeaut coatings, where you can get advise you can count on. You see what happens when you don't.

Sorry, for the bad news, in most cases if you continue, you not only willwaste your material, but you will most likely waste your time.

Wait for Ubeaut answer he might have a solution for you.


MacS

In the meantime you could read this thread, not quite the same situation as yours but might give you some pointers.Here

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Originally Posted by MacS

this time select one of Ubeaut coatings, where you can get advise you can count on. You see what happens when you don't.


MacS

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You gotta be kidding me!

I realise that this forum is hosted by a "sponsor" but thats rediculous. After reading a lot of posts on this board I realise that the advice is seriously compromised by people constantly pushing the sponsors product. This is supposed to be a disscussion board where people can freely discuss topics and get advice not be constantly advertised to.



How dare I use a product other that U-beaut! :roll:

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Originally Posted by potex

You gotta be kidding me!

I realise that this forum is hosted by a "sponsor" but thats rediculous. After reading a lot of posts on this board I realise that the advice is seriously compromised by people constantly pushing the sponsors product. This is supposed to be a disscussion board where people can freely discuss topics and get advice not be constantly advertised to.
How dare I use a product other that U-beaut! :roll:

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Potex,

you will find most of the pushing of the sponsors products is not actually done by the sponsor, it is done by the sponsors customers. I am one of their happy customers and have often suggested the use of their product (at no prompting from Ubeaut, would be happy to get some freebie's though:U).

As far as I am concerned, You cant get a better recommendation than from a happy customer. As far as I can see people can freely discuss any product here (within reason of cause, see the thread about forums being sued), in the time I have been here I haven't seen or heard of a thread being closed because it discussed a product that rivals the sponsor.

Maybe you need to take a deep breath and think about what was posted, you have been pointed to another thread in the same vein as yours and by the looks of it Neil will be coming up with one of his trademark answers shortly (He did write a book on finishing)

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After reading a lot of posts on this board I realise that the advice is seriously compromised by people constantly pushing the sponsors product.

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MacS's post may have been a bit over the top but I think that 'seriously compromised' is a bit inflammatory. Yes there are a lot of people here who use Ubeaut stuff and recommend it, but great range that it is, it only covers a relatively small spectrum of the array of finishes available to woodworkers and if you really have read 'a lot of posts' you will find that oils, lacquers and other non-shellac-based finishes are also popular.

If people happen to recommend using Ubeaut's stuff, it's because they have tried it and found it works. No-one here is under any compulsion to 'push' it. I think you might attract a very hostile reaction if you make remarks like that and you will find that assistance with your problem will not be forthcoming if you go down the path you are travelling.

I just hopped over and had a look at the Wattyl tech info sheet for Estapol Matt - says that it takes up to 10 days in winter to fully cure.

Agree.

If you read my posts (heh heh) you'll find I'm a horses for courses man and as a turner mostly use a finish which is not made by Ubeaut.

Since it is DO, may I suggest that you may have made an error? The two brands I've used suggest in their instructions that it goes on first. With a bit of elbow grease you won't need poly. In fact, poly underneath kinds defeats the purpose of DO. Just DO and wax on top. I like Ubeaut Trad Wax but can also recommend Gilly Stephenson's cabinet makers wax (as in fact the forum owner recently did as an alt. to Trad Wax.).

Pine can of course behave in odd ways. As suggested, you've got a potent brew over the top and it may come good if you let it sit a bit longer to harden.

Another factor is that your DO may have gone off in the can and so take a lot longer to harden than the instructions indicate. Suggest you wipe it down with White Spirit and 0000 steel wool and see what that does.

Thankyou to those who have replied with some help. I really appreciate it. Didn't mean to offend anyone I was just reacting to the "see what happens when you don't use U-beaut" comment.

Cheers
-Ben

Then you should direct your umbrage to MacS :)

I think I'd be inclined to just leave it a couple of weeks and see if it improves before doing anything rash, unless one of the more experienced guys has a better idea...

Pine being fairly soft, I'm not too sure how hard it's ever going to be though. My parents have got a very soft pine dining table which I stripped back, sanded and re-coated about 20 years ago (#### was it that long ago?) and it still marks pretty easily.

Yeah fair point.

Thanks for your help SilentC

I understand that you put a poly under danish oil.
this is like putting a sheet of plastic underneath and wiping oil on top. it wont bond.
despite your justified anger at somone seemingly promoting a product I think they areright in this case.
strip it back completely with a comercial stripper, give it a light sand ( pine should not be sanded in my opimion beyond a 320 grit becaues its too soft.
put a single coat of shellac on it, let dry for 3 hours then lightly sand again.
now you can use your danish oil.
the nice thing about this product is that you can put on 2-3-4 coats and it is tolerant of mistakes.
but you have to let it dry at least 24 hour between coats.
sand with a worn out piece of 240 grit between coats and for the final coat rub back with a no 0000 steel wool.(if you dont want a super high shine)
then lightly wax
there is a reason that proffessionals dont use polys
thats because they look like pastic and you can' ajust your finish

cheers
astrid

G,day potex

Definitely restrip it follow the instructions that astrid has given but I will give you another method after the shellac depending on how much use the table will receive you could use a gemini wax but this is a sacrificial layer but can be easily recoated. hope this helps.