Sanding polyurethane smooth. It seems completely counterintuitive but to make a finish really shine you have to start by sanding it dull photo 2. Dip your sanding block in the water and wet sand in the direction of the grain. Before my final coat even if my previous coat was perfect i sand with 400 600 and 0000 steel wool to make it silky smooth before that last coat. In addition to that sanding between coats specifically should not be relied upon to ensure a smooth uniform finish there are much better methods none of which waste finish needlessly more on this below.
For application i use a china bristle brush. Four regular coats of urethane applied one over the other is a good starting point. Youre wasting your time sanding coarse open grained woods like ash or oak baby butt smooth. It should be done for one reason only.
Dont worry if it doesnt look as flawless as youd like at first. Smooth and flatten the finish. Start with a thick coating. Sanding removes dust nibs and brush marks and leaves the finish smooth and flat.
The approach you use in fixing polyurethane bubbles puddles runs and brush marks should be based on the size and thickness of your flaws and the time polyurethane finish has had to set up. The first thing to understand is the need to begin with a thick polyurethane finish film to ensure that you dont buff right through to bare wood. Let each coat dry before sanding. You sand polyurethane to a remove any dust bumps in the lower coat and b cut the surface of the lower coat so that the upper coat has more surface area to bond to.
I use 220 grit. Sanding through all the grits to 220 grit wont improve the finish one bit. De nibbing where it serves a specific and necessary function for most users. You dont need the lower coat to be super smooth because the upper coat will cover the roughness from sanding anyway.
It must be completely dry then i take a sanding block usually about 4 and put 2000 grit. Finish tends to be thinner at tabletop edges. Enjoy the videos and music you love upload original content and share it all with friends family and the world on youtube. Use special care in these areas to avoid sanding through.
Yes 2000 grit not 200 grit sandpaper in it and get a bowl of water. How to smooth out a rough polyurethane finish. Thats not to say you should apply each coat thickly. Im not really a fan of poly i find it dies too quickly.
I generally start at 80 grit and end with 100 or 120 grit.