I think i've made a grave mistake

[mikethewoodwork]

I have been creating this table for the past couple of weeks (I am new to woodworking) and I finally stained and vanished (1 round) and the wood has come up like this? What happened? It was nicely smooth and sanded before.
20230330-204559 hosted at ImgBB — ImgBB

[mark david]

Did you use an oil based stain and water based varnish ?

[mikethewoodwork]

I used Feast Watsons ProofTint Spirit based interior stain and the Feast Watson Satin Clear Varnish

[mark david]

Was the proof tint fully dry before applying the varnish ?
Looks like some kind of strange interaction has taken place.
Do you know what wood species you used ?

[mikethewoodwork]

I did wait for it to dry fully and then applied the varnish 5 days later.

Okoume hardwood timber is the timber I used. You are right, it's a weird interaction.

[rustynail]

Okoume is often very high in silica. This will cause surface defects like tiny bubbles appearing under the first finish coats of varnish have been applied, particularly if left in the sun to dry. Sand back to a good surface and refinish. May take a few coats to settle down but should come good next time round. Problem can also be caused by silicon spray being used on machinery (planer) as a lubricant during dressing of the timber.

[mikethewoodwork]

Amazing, thanks for the advice. I'll try sand back and try again, is sanding after varnish relatively easy?

[orraloon]

Amazing, thanks for the advice. I'll try sand back and try again, is sanding after varnish relatively easy?

Afraid not. The varnish clogs up the sandpaper. A card scraper or a Stanley 80 would get it done quicker.
Other option is paint stripper. Brush on and it softens up the varnish making it easy to get off with a scraper. Then its sanding again for next try.
Regards
John

[rustynail]

You dont need to remove the varnish completely. In fact, you want to keep the surface sealed to prevent more silica coming to the surface and causing the same problem again. Only sand to an extent that removes the blemishes, not back to the timber. Use an anti clog sand paper, this will help with varnish retention. Not perfect but it does help.