[ShaneG.]

So I buy a fancy piece of plywood to make my swivel table top out of, I get it all cut and sanded and Saturday I put a coat of poly on it. It said to wait 6 hrs for recoat so Sunday I put more on....skip to today I ended up raking it all off with a scraper. It just rolled right off the wood like it was barely dry.

Soon as I get it cleaned up it's getting white latex house paint rolled on it!

The can said fast drying but I don't think so.

 

[45TAJ]

I feel for ya Shane. I'm in the process of applying a bar top type of eeeepoxy. I have the bench top elevated abt 1/8", flashing almost in position w 1/8 gap, plastic underneath. Hope to pour for the 1/8" self levelling thkns and side fill. Then, 72 hrs later, flip over and pour to the 1/8" raised edge. I'd have to charge hundred$ to do this for a living. It became a chore. I watched YouTube, have read instructions etc and the idea of scraping off a coat really looms heavy.

 

[ShaneG.]

I don't like wood...I can put it back on like metal if I make a screw up.

It's been nasty humid here so maybe that's why it wont dry. when I stirred it there were some dark specks in it that I don't know what they were...maybe I got a bad can.

Hopefully the light skin of it that didn't scrap off will dry by morning and I'll sand it real good.

I never messed with epoxy other than JB weld type stuff so your on your own there Tom!...but good luck.

 

[Kentucky Fisherman]

Shane, I'm no ace woodworker, but poly is usually pretty trouble free in my experience. But with the heat and humidity we've been having, if you coated that wood out in your hot workshop, I'm betting that's exactly the problem. There's a chance you got a bad (old) batch of poly, but I'm guessing it was the heat and humidity.

Here's some info that may help.

 

[ShaneG.]

Oh yeah it was hot in there....about 90. Between that and the humidity I think that's probably the cause.

Got a roller and a can of semigloss white ready for it now.....I don't have time to wait on the poly to dry.

 

[JRinKY]

Call Skruske.
He can fix it in 10 minutes or less.

 

[TinMan]

Shane, I think both the humidity and the temperature may be the problem. My brother just built a very nice Maple table, and he said he had to wait until the weather cooled to below 80°F to apply the poly.

Personally, I might be tempted to just sand it down and use a hard wax like Renaissance Wax or Min-Wax Finishing Wax. They both are a hard (Carnauba?) wax like for use on a car, but designed for use on wood. I use it on rifle stocks, weaving accessories and on furniture.

 

[ShaneG.]

I've got it scraped back down to bare wood for the most part. It was still so soft after 4 days you could push it around on the wood.

Made one hell of a sticky mess too. What little was there was gumming up my sandpaper pretty bad so I'll check it indnthe a.m. and see how it looks.

Jr maybe it needed some of that clear paint thinner I see in those Mason jars mixed in with it....or maybe the applicator needed some.

 

[Kentucky Fisherman]

Oh yeah it was hot in there....about 90. Between that and the humidity I think that's probably the cause.

Got a roller and a can of semigloss white ready for it now.....I don't have time to wait on the poly to dry.

You just got caught by a time crunch, Shane. If the paint will dry, that'll be fine for now. In fact, I wouldn't hesitate to use the thing "nekkid" this first trip. It'll just gain some "character" and shouldn't hurt anything at all. It's plywood, not a huge slab of bird's eye maple, right?

And if the plywood really does look nice, you can simply strip the paint off this fall, prep the wood again and try a new can of poly. Maybe get Skruske to put you in touch with his PD buddies who built the tables that several of us use. I'm 99% sure their's are covered with poly and it's great stuff when it cures properly.

 

[LarryDScott]

Yep clean it and leave it. Its the humidity. I painted a piece of 2x4 w/latex
and it didnt dry like it should. If you paint and it doesnt dry, it will always be
in the pores, and you will have no choice but to repaint. LDS

 

[was skruske]

Two things not & humid = bad for poly. Your plywood absorbed moisture from the air.

Bring it to Montana bare. Bring your poly. Coat it out there with a piece of straight cut card board. I will be glad to show you my cheap easy "technique". It will dry out there in an hour or less. Well maybe two hours of its cloudy.

 

[ShaneG.]

I slapped a coat of paint on it first thing this morning. One coat should come off easy later. I'll assemble the thing tomorrow and haul it out to my dads for a test run.

 

[LarryDScott]

yep you can get the paint off the surface, but what gets
in the pores is there forever. It will look like a Dalmatian
dog, if you ever wanted to remove the paint and go w/poly.
LDS

 

[Doug Roberts]

Laminate

I have put laminate on a couple of shooting tables. Pretty easy to work with but will have razor sharp edges if you break or tear it. I clean up the edges with a router after the glue sets then hit them with a file just to dull the edge.

 

[ShaneG.]

Assembled the rest of it today. I still need to find my seat of choice and get it mounted, I had that little foam bucket cover sitting on there to test the swivel and fit.



It will work for now...I'm sure after its been put to use once in the field I might find things I want to change...it sure is stable but a little heavy.

 

[TinMan]

Shane, my bench is not rotating so I use a drummer's throne (tripod stool) for a seat. You might find a padded and upholstered seat that could be adapted to your rotary bench. Go to Guitar Center or Musician's Friend websites for what be of interest to you. Prices run from roughly $50-$200 for the whole tripod stool. I know there is a Guitar Center in Castleton, IN, just off 82nd and I-465.

 

[ShaneG.]

I have been looking at some stools with padded seats but most stuff is plastic and pretty weak looking. I might just cut me a circle grab some foam and staple some material over it.

If I had paid attention when. I was younger I would have learned how to use the Singer Industrial sewing machine my grandfather used for ages and could whip out a neat little seat. It still works I just have no clue how to set it up.

 

[Doug Jacobsen]

Carpet

So maybe a dumb idea but has anybody tried carpet on top of a shooting bench. Like marine carpet. When I built my boat I used Helmsman polyurethane spar varnish under similar weather conditions ie hot and humid, first coat on sucked it up instantly second dried very good over night. Put the glue on and carpet and you'd be hard pressed to get it off. Get it wet no problem seem like it would be a excellent choice for a bench top any thoughts ? Jus Doug

 

[45TAJ]

Well Doug, your carpet idea tied into waterproofing brought this to mind. I have some 18" carpet squares stacked in the shop that have a hvy rubber backing, super, super tight pile, that may be what you're talking abt. For an extra durable, non slip surface, that's it in spades. I'll probably use that on a work bench top.