Help needed: Estapol peeling

[jyg1234]

Hi guys,

I've built a table out of Jarrah and I'm applying estapol onto it to finish it off (I know some of you think this is sacrilege, but I really didn't know what else to use).

Anyway, I've had this problem twice now when applying estapol to the top of the table and had to sand back and start again both times.

Everything is fine when applying the first coat. When applying the second coat, the first coat on about half of the table appears to be cracking, peeling and lifting, causing yellow bubbles and cracks over the surface. It looks really bad and makes the surface uneven. I had initially thought it had something to do with the thickness of the estapol so I thinned it with some mineral turps the second time I did it, but it still did the same thing and strangely, on the same areas on the table. The problem is on half of the table, the other half is perfect.

Both times, after the first coat, the surface looked and felt great, the problem only arises when the second coat is applied. I have been applying the estapol with a brush, could it be that the brush is scratching up the first coat when it is softened by the solvent in the second coat as it is applied?

Any suggestions (other than to use a different finish)?

[soundman]

a couple of issues.

how long are you leaving between recoats and are you ssanding between coats.

turps bassed poly has several stages of going off........if you are to recoat without a very thorough sand you must do so within 24 hours ( 48 at a real push) of the second coat will not bond to the first.

second......what are you thinning the estipol with and by how much..............if you thin this type of product too much......A/ it will go milky.....B/ you diseperse the resins too much any it does not set up properly.

turps should be fins 10% absolute max.

have you cleaned down the timber first.

cheers

[jyg1234]

Thanks Soundman,

Recoat was done at around the 24 hour mark (first time I did it in about 12 hours and it appeared to be worse).

Thinning was done with no more than 10% mineral turps. First time I did it was not thinned at all. There was no milkiness.

timber was cleaned with mineral turps and a light amount of jarrah coloured stain was put onto the wood (just to even out the colours a bit so I didn't get so much variation). The surface was sanded quite vigorously with 1200 grit wet and dry (surface was very very smooth to touch considering it was the first coat).

Really can't see what I'm doing wrong.

[soundman]

Ok one of the likley problems is sanding too fine.
These are film forming finishes and they need a key to bond too.....Kwila also has an open grain but parts of the structrure can be very hard and almost impervious......so you can have solvent trapped deep in the grain and portions of the finish strugling to adhere to a nearly polished hard portion..

however without, beeing there we are grasping at straws.....I would sugest the following......resand thorouly to 180 gritt......if you have a compulsion and you must go further no further than 240gritt...... but seriously on film forming finishes there is no point.

If you are going to wipe down with solvent and or stain.. make sure all traces of solvent are gone......

I strognly recomend using estipol sanding sealer under the top coat for many reasons...work up you finish with the sanding sealer and only do 1 or 2 top coats of the top coat product.

you must sand the sanding sealer well........you can get away with staining between coats with estipol... but you are better off using tinted top coats from my experience... and cutting the coloured top coat with clear so it does not look so handyman.

particularly in this cold weather make sure this all dries out.

cheers

[Gunnaduit]

Any suggestions (other than to use a different finish)?

Let the rest of the tin skin over, then, once you're satisfied its useless rather than still good, chuck it out next time you're doing a big cleanup.