# Water based Spar Urethane last coat buffing



## Chumly (Sep 15, 2016)

Good day folks......I'm working on a 36" round wood table top. I have stained it with Minwax water based stain. Applied 6 coats of Minwax water based Clear Satin Spar Urethane-then the last coat is-one coat of water based Clear Gloss Spar Urethane. It looks really nice and smooth and glossy and by chance it only has just very few small nibs on the surface. I'm letting it cure for about 5 days. I was wondering if I could just rub out the top coat with ( 0000 ) very fine steel wool soaked in Johnson's Paste wax. I'm a little chicken to use anymore of an abrasive paper on it for fear of scratching the nice gloss I already have. I'd like to get it to a silky smooth feel with a nice gloss. Again, all the coats are water based. Thanks George in Fla.


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## Steve Neul (Sep 2, 2011)

Chumly said:


> Good day folks......I'm working on a 36" round wood table top. I have stained it with Minwax water based stain. Applied 6 coats of Minwax water based Clear Satin Spar Urethane-then the last coat is-one coat of water based Clear Gloss Spar Urethane. It looks really nice and smooth and glossy and by chance it only has just very few small nibs on the surface. I'm letting it cure for about 5 days. I was wondering if I could just rub out the top coat with ( 0000 ) very fine steel wool soaked in Johnson's Paste wax. I'm a little chicken to use anymore of an abrasive paper on it for fear of scratching the nice gloss I already have. I'd like to get it to a silky smooth feel with a nice gloss. Again, all the coats are water based. Thanks George in Fla.


A spar varnish isn't really the product to use if you are working on an interior table. A spar is formulated to be soft to deal with the temperature extremes of being outdoors. The spar being a softer finish is going to make it more difficult to polish out like you are wanting to do. 

5 days drying time isn't enough for a finish to fully cure to polish out. It takes a month for it to achieve it's full hardness. To rub it out start with 1200 grit wet and dry sandpaper and wet sand the finish. Then progressively wet sand with finer and finer grit until you sand it with 2000 grit paper. Then with a auto polisher with a lambswood bonnet buff the sheen back using rubbing compound. Any rubbing compound other than Turtle Wax should work fine. Since the spar is a softer finish don't get very aggressive with the buffer. If enough heat is generated you may damage the finish.


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## Chumly (Sep 15, 2016)

*Thanks Steve*

Thank you Steve for your information on the Spar Urethane I used on my table. I'm going to let it cure for 30 days and see how soft it appears to be. If I have to, I will strip if all off and start over again with the harder drying poly-urethane. George


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## Steve Neul (Sep 2, 2011)

I think you will be alright buffing it as long as you are patient. If you put a lot of pressure on the buffer it can generate enough heat to soften the finish to the point it could come off.


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