# Finishing a bandsaw box



## mtnjak (Jan 14, 2010)

Over the past year I've gotten back into woodworking. I dabbled in woodworking in the early 90s with borrowed tools from a friend to make a few projects. One project, my very first (since my introduction to woodworking basics in 8th grade shop class), was a walnut jewelry box. The finish I applied to the jewelry box was Minwax satin polyeurathane spray. After much sanding of the box I sprayed on a few coats of poly and that was that (I did no sanding between coats). Almost 20 years later the box still looks as great as it did then. The satin gave it a nice natural finish, not too shiny, not too dull but just right with just the right amount of luster to bring out the beauty of the walnut.

Fast forward to now. I'm looking for a finish for my cherry band saw box (still in progress, not yet complete). I don't recall the instructions on the poly stating to do so, but it seems everywhere I read people say to sand the poly finish between coats. Is this really necessary? I didn't do it before with the walnut box and it looks great. Why would I need to sand the poly? Does it have something to do with the satin versus gloss finish? Does a gloss finish need to be sanded? I like satin because it's a nice neutral finish for naturally beautiful woods like walnut and the poly adds a nice protective layer against any wear that oil based finishes may not provide. I know I have oil based finish on all of our window wood trim at home and I could put a mark in it if I tried. Although I haven't used oil finish on anything yet as my only experience so far is with some stains and poly finishes.

Thoughts?


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## Dave (PacNW) (Apr 19, 2009)

*Sanding Poly?*

Yes, Poly should be sanded if the first coat is dry. By sanded I mean use 320 or a gray pad. When you use Shellac or Lacquer, the second and subsequent coats partially dissolve the previous coat and becomes one continuous coat. Poly does not do this, but each coat stays separate. There for, you must scuff sand enough to remove dust nibs and to provide the "grip" for each following coat. By scuff sanding, I mean a lite once over with 320. Some poly's say to re-coat within a certain time frame, if you do without scuff sanding, you leave the dust nibs and other imperfections in the underlying coats. I use General Finishes For my projects. I prefer oil based but they make the best water based Poly on the market.

Dave (PacNW)

P.S. The finishes used 20 years ago were completely different from what is available today!!!


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## JW_in_Indy (Mar 20, 2009)

I concur about General Finishes products, they are first rate. I recently used their Polyacrylic finish for the first time on a project and I loved it.


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## mtnjak (Jan 14, 2010)

Just to verify, I did look at Minwax's website and it does say to sand with 220 after the first coat. It's interesting though that I never had a problem with imperfections previously. Perhaps, like you say, the product was different 20 years ago? Thanks for your input.


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## mtnjak (Jan 14, 2010)

Perhaps I used water based poly (versus oil based) in the past for my old box. It says here that you don't sand water based poly. Looks like oil based is more durable overall though and requires less coats. Also, it says water based may raise the grain a little. However, I guess that depends on what type of wood you're applying it to as I have not noticed any problems with walnut.

http://woodworking.about.com/od/finishing/p/polyurethane.htm


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