Seeking suggestions for polyurethane finish. I am not the greatest when it comes to eliminating brush strokes so the concept of wipe-on (or wipe-off?) poly is enticing. While I want it to look nice, “less likely for me to mess it up” is more important than musical-instrument-quality appearance.
Details:
clear coat for gel stain
decorative item comparable to a simple beveled picture frame
willing to put on several coats
Durability doesn’t matter
Yellowing doesn’t matter. The gel stain is very dark.
For no defensible reason other than personal preference, I prefer oil-based if possible
I use Arm-r-seal as well, I have issues with brush marks. Using a high end brush helps (over the cheap “chip” brushes) but I hate having to clean the brush and invariably forget to clean it and ruin an expensive brush. Several years ago I switched to using foam brushes - no brush marks and they are cheap!
You may or may not know this but you can make your own wipe on poly from any regular polyurethane. Stumpy explains how better than I could: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sOSUyTbk56Q
I used to do wipe on - but got tired of poly on my hands (I hate wearing gloves), it’s easy to sand through thin layers between coats, and three coats of regular poly is faster (my finishing time) than 5-7 coats of wipe on. I didn’t see a big enough difference in a test I did comparing the two, so I go with what is less time.
I polish the finish with scotch bright pads (fine white and/or medium red). Really evens out the finish and creates a super smooth surface. Using car polish also does wonders for polishing out finish.
My normal process is brush on an oil based poly coat thinned by maybe 10% just so it self levels a bit more easily, and then let that cure and sand to 220. This is essentially the sealing coat.
Then I’ll spray the final coat, again thinned as needed, out of an HLVP gun. You don’t need anything remotely fancy, a 30 dollar set up from Harbor Freight will do (their sub-$20 purple HVLP gun, an $8 regulator, disposable filter, and brass fittings should clock in right around $30.) I like the look of satin finish and in my experience getting a good satin finish with brush on is difficult. An upside of satin finish is that you don’t need a spray booth clean room to make it work… small dust nibs are acceptable and can be buffed out with a paper bag.
IMO this is the fastest way to get a great finish - dump on the poly as a sealer with a brush without paying too much attention first, and then wrap it up with just a final 2nd coat being sprayed on. If you already have your air compressor set up I also feel that spraying is often faster than brushing.
I’ve had great results from the satin Minwax Wipe On polyurethane. It’s what I used for the finish coats on the tiki pinball machine, and it’s held up perfectly even with the handling it gets at conventions.
I sprayed some PVA mold release, which is similar to clear coat in that the texture shows up on the part. The instructions said you could apply it by brushing it on, using a sponge, or dipping the part in it, but it works best if you spray it on. The sponge brush was the best out of those (didn’t try dipping it) but still a complete waste of time compared to spraying. I literally just pointed the gun in the general direction of the part, held the trigger for five seconds and got a much better finish quality compared to the brush. The mold release peeled off in one thin continuous layer, and there were no brush marks on the part.
I was just about to start a thread on air compressors. Got any recs for garage use? The HVLP gun uses a lot of air; that’s the downside. The turbine and quality LVLP setups are more than $30.
So your message preview/notification in my gmail is the first time I’ve actually seen an inline ad for something in gmail. At first I thought the listed compressors were actually part of your post and it wasn’t until I clicked through that I realized they weren’t!
Funnily enough, the first ad is the exact compressor that I’d recommend, as it’s the one that I own. I’m not sure if Google knows that I own it though as I bought it off of FB marketplace and am not sure if I’ve ever done a search for it before… so I think this really might just be a coincidence instead of a targeted history ad.
It is only a 10 gallon tank but the compressor is powerful and fills it quickly; it is indeed very quiet (which was a HUGE upgrade over my old Harbor Freight base model compressor which was deafening), and the oilless operation is a nice plus.
How big of a tank you need normally depends on how big of a part you’re spraying. But IMO unless you’re spraying something lets say bigger than a car hood, this 10 gallon tank is sufficient. Bigger is always better but budget and space considerations made me go with it.
They were in my original post. I edited my post, but it sent you an email of the original, whereas the website displays the most recent version along with a button to see the history.
