Getting high-gloss shine over polyurethane

[nspikito]

Hi folks. I am a newbie. I'm trying to learn from detailing knowledge, for cars, how to get a deep wet-looking gloss on my wooden furniture. I built a large walnut dining room table. I finished the top with polyurethane and let it cure for a month. At this point it looked beautifully shiny, as if it were wet. But the surface wasn't smooth to the touch, probably some dust or tiny bubbles in the cured finish. So I buffed it with Abralon pads up to 3000 grit. That produced an ultra smooth finish. But the table top looked cloudy/hazy (no depth)  Then I buffed it with Menzerna Super Finish Plus 3800. And it's as smooth as a baby's butt now. But it's still cloudy. The wood itself is gorgeous, and it really shines if I wipe the tabletop wet with mineral spirits. But when the solvent evaporates the finish becomes dull again.

Do you have any suggestions? How about a glaze? Incidentally I used polyurethane because of its toughness.

You car geeks could certainly teach an old wood geek like me some tricks! At least I hope so.

 

Edited September 16, 2018 by nspikito
improve wording

[CoonHound693]

10 hours ago, nspikito said:

Hi folks. I am a newbie. I'm trying to learn from detailing knowledge, for cars, how to get a deep wet-looking gloss on my wooden furniture. I built a large walnut dining room table. I finished the top with polyurethane and let it cure for a month. At this point it looked beautifully shiny, as if it were wet. But the surface wasn't smooth to the touch, probably some dust or tiny bubbles in the cured finish. So I buffed it with Abralon pads up to 3000 grit. That produced an ultra smooth finish. But the table top looked cloudy/hazy (no depth)  Then I buffed it with Menzerna Super Finish Plus 3800. And it's as smooth as a baby's butt now. But it's still cloudy. The wood itself is gorgeous, and it really shines if I wipe the tabletop wet with mineral spirits. But when the solvent evaporates the finish becomes dull again.

Do you have any suggestions? How about a glaze? Incidentally I used polyurethane because of its toughness.

You car geeks could certainly teach an old wood geek like me some tricks! At least I hope so.

 

I would prob try a h2o gg in a small area. It gives my truck paint the look you want. Maybe brilliant glaze, my wife has been using that stuff on the mirrors and glass sliders and does a great job.  

[nspikito]

Thanks for the suggestions, CoonHound. I already bought some EZ Creme Glaze, but haven't tried it yet. Any idea how EZ Creme compares with h2o-gg or with brilliant-glaze? There are so many products out there! It makes my head spin.

[CoonHound693]

6 hours ago, nspikito said:

Thanks for the suggestions, CoonHound. I already bought some EZ Creme Glaze, but haven't tried it yet. Any idea how EZ Creme compares with h2o-gg or with brilliant-glaze? There are so many products out there! It makes my head spin.

 I never used ez creme before.  I’m new to Adam’s stuff, but have a Decent collection so far.   I’ve been experimenting with all of it.  H20 gg and brilliant glaze are my favorites,  also the odor neutralizer is amazing, I live in scorching hot Florida and 

my trash bins smell horrible even after cleaning with bleach after trash pickup, so I tried odor neutralizer and it works amazing.  All my Adam’s products have multiple uses so far, which keeps me buying more.  I just foam cannoned my house with Adam’s shampoo with great results.   My list of projects is growing rapidly.  

[pirahnah3]

It sounds to me like you mared the surface of the poly, why not try a light sanding and applying a new coat and see if that helps, the sanding should give you a great bonding surface and then the poly can be applied and should bring it back to its brilliance. 

 

The reason you see if work with the mineral spirits is the points of refraction from the minute scratches in the surface, the oil fills in the voids and stops the light refraction/reflection from giving it the appearance of a frosted finish. 

 

Wow....the things you learn from McGyver (Episode 71 fyi) 

Edited September 17, 2018 by pirahnah3

[nspikito]

Thanks Jim. Unfortunately that's just what I did. With a fresh coat of poly it looked beautiful, but there were imperfections, like tiny bubbles and air-born dust. I could feel them more than see them.  I let the poly cure for a month. It still looked beautiful, but needed to be smoothed out. I used Abralon pads (up to 3000 grit) with soapy water to get the table top completely smooth. Now it looks gorgeous when wet with mineral spirits or naphtha, but when the solvent evaporates, it gets hazy/cloudy. My next gambit was using  Menzerna Super Finish Plus 3800. It left the top ultra smooth, but hazy. Today I tried EZ Creme Glaze, which helps a little, but I was looking for a deep wet look, as if the tabletop were covered with wet solvent. I'm thinking of turning to wax.

[RayS]

Are you using a Tack Cloth after you hit it with the Abralon pads?  If so, did you rub it or set it down and lift it up?   On several of my wood projects I found the Tack Cloth pulled all the microscopic particles off that were preventing the full shine from coming through.  I have a saw big difference in the appearance after using the Tack Cloth when blotting vs rubbing - with blotting being my preferred method.

[nspikito]

Thanks, Ray. Who would imagine that a tack cloth could scratch the surface and make the finish dull?! I use tack cloths all the time, but I've never 'blotted' the work piece. You can be sure I'll try it out.