Waterlox
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Any Waterlox users out there? I’ve used it for the first time on an oak chair. There are 4 coats on now that were wiped on, not brushed. The coat that is on now has been sitting for three days with a fan on it. It has just a slight sticky feel to it. It isn’t tacky, but it doesn’t have a dry silky feel that good finishes have. Bagging the finish with craft paper to get rid of the nibs increased the feeling of it being just barely sticky.
Is this normal for Waterlox?
The details are that the first coat was allowed to dry for 36 hours and the subsequent coats have had 24 hours to dry. There has been a fan blowing across the piece while drying.
29 August 2016 at 4:01 pm #139764I use waterlox, and have never experienced what you are describing. What is the humidity like? I would guess that a high humidity could stop it from drying properly.
If I recall, waterlox is just a tung oil based finish (with additives for drying) I usually brush it on since using a rag typically applies more.
Maybe give this coat another day or two and see what happens? Very rarely do I ever need to apply more than 4 anyway.
29 August 2016 at 4:02 pm #139765Also, the company has great customer service. Look at their website for a number and call them up if you can.
@jotato It definitely has been hot and humid for the last few days. I found we could not brush the original formulation because it wanted to run. On this chair, most of the surfaces are vertical no matter how you orient it. So, we ended up wiping it.
Any idea how many coats are required when wiping? They say 3-4 on the can, but those are heavy, brushed coats, not wiped. I’d like to have just enough to rub down to a satin sheen.
Alternatively, we could apply the satin topcoat, but the manufacturer’s web page says the satin must be brushed, not wiped.
29 August 2016 at 9:14 pm #139767Hot and humid, I would wait until a coat is fully dry to the touch before doing the next one.
In your situation, just give it time. It should dry up. If after 2 days (3 tops) it is still tacky, I would call and ask waterlox
As far as coats, it doesn’t really matter. In my experience 4 coats is enough, but I have done 2 (smaller projects that won’t have much wear) to as many as 6-7 for spoons! The finish is food safe after it cures (about a month) and from what I can tell really protects the wood.
As far as a satin finish, test this first but putnanfew coats on scrap and buff it with wax when dry. That might bring the sheen doen
Side note, I do wipe the spoons. Brushing those is a pain ๐
I found some info on the Waterlox page. I think everything is fine and I’m feeling a normal surface for Waterlox prior to the 30-day cure. See below.
https://waterlox.com/project-help/guide?id=56df17b4-f991-46f3-bce7-5caab1868284&q=
Tacky finish troubleshooting.
As with any oil finish, Tung oil finishes often feel tacky when freshly cured.We refer to this tackiness as โgrippy.โ
If your project is complete, take a piece of facial tissue and press it between the surface of the finish and your thumb. If any of the fibers from the tissue stick to the surface, it is not dry yet. An increase in ventilation is recommended.
5 September 2016 at 2:19 am #139921Ed,
I’ve used Waterlox a few times. I wanted to try it because it’s made here in Cleveland and I really try to support local when possible. The only drawback to Waterlox is the long dry time, whether between coats or as a final coat. I’ve used it on tabletops, where I was able to brush the coats, and got wonderful results. Brushing is recommended so you build millage quicker, and in fewer coats than wiping. In your case, you will have mostly vertical surfaces, so wiping is probably your best choice. I think you’re right on track there.
It may take 6-8, or even 10 coats to get the same millage as brushing, but you’ve got limited options.
One bit of advise I can give for speeding up the curing is the use of a fan and fresh air. Having a fan alone won’t help; you need to have fresh air coming in too. The molecular change that happens during curing is a cross link between the varnish and oxygen. That cross linking is what drys the finish. I suggest having the fan PULL fresh air across the project instead of blowing it across. You’ll be a lot less likely to blow dust etc. into a wet finish. Don’t ask me how I know this, just trust me when I say it’s not an easy problem to fix.
Good luck.
David
@woodworker435 , Thanks for the idea. I did all the things you suggested, especially the fan. I’m not sure I understand the chemistry, but I kept the door open anyway. What I mean is that we probably used about 50 mL per coat (actually on the piece and not soaked into the rags). At 25% solids, that’s around 10g of material. As a wild guess, if the stuff that needs to react is 50 g/mol and I need a couple of oxygens for each, then I need 2/5 mol of oxygen. Heck, call it a mol. So, I need ballpark 20L of oxygen. My garage is 8’x10’x20′, which is 45000L, of which 20% is O2. So, there are 9000L of oxygen in the garage, and I need 20 to cure this stuff. I left the door open anyway. ๐
I really like the waterlox, and could learn to live with the dry time (maybe), but what really has me on the fence is the sheen. It is just too shiny for many projects, to my taste. It would be good for a table top, often. Have you ever rubbed it out to a lower sheen? How long did you let it cure beforehand? I played with the satin waterlox on scrap, but it was runny too. I might be able to get it on without sagging, but from what I read, if you do not get a heavy coat of that stuff, the flatteners streak. Some people love it, some say they never get it to work. Do you have any experience either rubbing out the original formula sealer/finish or applying the satin?
Sorry for the chemistry dump. There’s probably an error in it somewhere.
- This reply was modified 7 years, 8 months ago by Ed.
5 September 2016 at 10:29 pm #139939Ed,
I’ve used the satin finish every time. You still have to use the original formula as your 3 undercoats (or however many you want), then top coat with satin.
Again, I’ve always brushed it on, but I do 3 coats of original with 2 coats of satin. I never felt the need to do anything further.
I hope you’ve been well since class.
David
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