Carpentry and Woodworking - Need tips on Urethane

Hello. I am on my second coat of stain on 2 projects at once.

1) an old oak single pedestal table found on road side. Needed lots of sanding and 2 coats of honey oak oil stain.

2) an old silverware box from ebay. I am not sure of what the wood was but it was very light, had nice wide grain pattern and a fairly soft wood, sanded with 2 coats of a reddish antique stain.

I have a quart of oil urethane from when I did 1 room hardwood floor.

I need tips to get the urethane (maybe 2 to 3 coats) to stay on the wood with good adhesion, smooth surface, and NO "paint" lines or streaks. How do I do a great urethane job on these 2 projects. Thanks all: e3

Use a nice china bristle brush for a good tool for the job. You might want to thin the first coat 25% to make an easier flow onto the wood. Some folks like Penetrol for a finishing thinner. Sanding between coats 180 grit or so to knock down the nibs. With poly you lay it on and tip it off. Problems result from over brushing it. Lay on the brush load into the wet coat, then lightly drag the brush tips over it to even off. Work from a separate bucket, rather than painting from the can. You might want to start with the table to develop your technique before moving on to the small box.

Temperature affects how poly dries. Don't get too high into the range suggested by the manufacturer to avoid it skinning over and trapping air bubbles or trapping uncured finish under the skin.

Hope this helps.

If you want to help prevent any brush marks, use either a horses hair or ox hair brush. 2-1/2" Expect to pay about $25.00. You can clean it with Mineral Sprits AKA Paint Thinner

Thanks. I picked up a nice china bristle from Wooster brushes. I am almost ready to start. My next question is:

What is the best way to clean save the brush between coats AND to be able to use down the road?

In my experience I usually buy cheap brushes because i destroy them on each job. I can't afford to buy these good brushes every time I tackle a job.

I have mineral spirits and will get a bucket. Do I leave the brush in the thinner, or clean it and remove it, or bag it up to avoid drying,......etc Any tips would be great.

Thanks all: e3

Clean the brush right away. A good brush can last for years.

Put some paint thinner in a small bucket and knead the finish out of the brush into the thinner. When as clean as possible, pour the dirty thinner into a storage container. Put some more thinner into the small bucket and repeat the process until the brush is clean. Take care to get all the finish out of the part where the bristles are mounted into the metal band. Repeat until the thinner is practically clean afterwards. It may take two or three sessions to clean the brush; more if needed. Once finished, spin the brush between your hands or shake it to remove the thinner. Shape the bristles as they were and hang it to dry. Some replace the cardboard cover to maintain shape.

Hope this helps.

urathane is not thinned by Lacquer thinner, it's thinned/cleaned by Mineral spirts. AkA Paint thinner. Only lacquer based products are thinned/cleaned with thinner

Thanks all. I finished the silverware box and it looks really rich. The table came out nice too and I am going to build the 20inch leaf next weekend with some red oak biscuited together and try to match up the routed edges as best as possible. So I can have a 6 seater single pedestal table for family "overflow" on holidays and will build a 1 - piece felted edged poker table top that rests on top for the guys nights.

I am no furniture nor have the patience but when you can find an oak table and spend time/energy (no cash outlay really) and get a near new table. Oh HEll yeah. Peace: e3

Learn from my huge mistake of using biscuts and putting them too close to the top many years ago; when I first started this trade. I made solid wood kitchen table for someone out of Maple, put the biscuts only 1/8" from the top and another set 1/8" from the bottom. The moisture sucked down where the biscuts were at and left impressions where the biscuts were at. You could see every one of them. Make sure your biscuts are dead center of the wood. Do not use biscuts on material less than 3/4" If you can get away with not using biscuts, you're better off.

Thanks for the tips. MY coworker is going to cut the wood and biscuit cut, and then I will take it home assemble, glue, and clamp as his workshop is too cold for gluing. Also its 3/4" red oak boards we are doing. Thanks: e3