Minwax Wipe On Poly

[double.d]

Masters is gone and i've rung 3 Home Timber stores but none have it. Anyone know who stocks it in Brisbane?

Thanks.

[Jim Carroll]

Not available in Australia any more

[barri]

Its a great shame Masters closed. I love the Minwax products.

[Ari2]

According to the Minwax website, Homehardware is a reseller i Australia. Visit the Homehardware site for store locations in Qld. Good luck.
C

[shanesmith80]

On the rare occasion I have seen it in Bunnings as well.

[Mobyturns]

Bunnings has stocked it in the past.

[Justin]

Not available in Australia any more

Now that's not good news. I'm a big fan of this product.

[woodPixel]

AUD$36 for 500ml with free post: MINWAX COMPANY, THE - 1-Pint Satin Water-Based Wipe-On Poly | eBay

[spokeshave]

AUD$36 for 500ml with free post: MINWAX COMPANY, THE - 1-Pint Satin Water-Based Wipe-On Poly | eBay

This is water based, I've never used it so don't know how it compares to the oil based product.

Bunnings stock this. Mastertouch Wipe-On Poly | Wipe-On Gloss Or Satin Timber Finish

I've tried this and it is no where near as good as the Minwax stuff but may be an alternative that is still available locally.

Steven.

[homey]

My understanding from reading books on finishing (e.g. Flexner) is that wipe-on poly is just normal poly that has been thinned/diluted, so if you can find a poly that you like you can very easily turn it into a wipe-on finish by adding mineral turps. Good reading in this article by Bob Flexner:

The Basics of Wiping Varnish - Popular Woodworking Magazine


Brian

[Robson Valley]

There's a rustic furniture shop down my street.
Among other things like queen-size beds, they make walking canes and hiking sticks in batches of 50 at a time.
Their go-to finish is MinWax Tung Oil Protective Finish (TOPF) usually 3-4 coats.
I really like the apearance so use it on many of my wood carvings.

Try it.

To apply, they wear a plastic glove and a cotton glove over than.
Dip their hands in the TOPF and wipe it on. 50 sticks done in minutes.

[double.d]

I bought some of the Mastertouch in Satin to try but its way to glossy for my liking so i tried a coat of wax over it and buffed it up. The gloss was toned down a bit but the wax is a bit blotchy.

Any comments on this, or does and dont's

[homey]

Double D,

To fine tune the gloss level on shellac/varnish/poly I wait some days until it is very dry then use Micro-Mesh to get anything from a matte to a high gloss finish. I go to 12,000 for the high gloss and about 6,000 for a semi gloss. Note that the Micro-Mesh numbers don't match up with some other abrasive numbering systems but you can see a comparison chart on the Sandpaper Man's site (he sells Micro-Mesh).

It was an article by Charles Neil in the U.S. that put me on to this approach and I use it regularly on boxes. Might be more difficult if you're finishing a really big piece.

Here's the article:

Finishing the Finish @ The Finishing Store News

Good luck,

Brian

[Mulgabill]

I have received an email from Minwax stating that Minwax is not now available in my area. I enquired at several Home hardware outlets and was told that due to minimum order requirements they will not be stocking the entire Minwax range, only volume orders for the trade. I was also told that Bunnings will unlikely stock Minwax "any time soon".