Will these varnish irregularities buff out?

[charles Tauber]

No: adhesion problems.

[Sam VanLaningham]

Originally Posted by charles Tauber

No: adhesion problems.

Ok thanks. I was reading elsewhere that one cause of this adhesion problem is from moisture. It did seem that the ease of peeling correlated with where the most dye was applied. It's water based aniline dye and it took a lot to get it totally black on the outside of the burst. I wonder if 24 hours drying time before putting on first coat of varnish was culprit? The first coat was also not thinned and thick and drippy, and maybe that exacerbated the problem etc?

There isn't any reported problems with varnish and water-based aniline dye?

Thanks for all the help!

Sam

[charles Tauber]

Finishing is a pain and very often fraught with issues.

My advice is to do tests with the exact materials, sequence and application technique you plan to use on an instrument, rather than use the instrument, itself, as the test piece. That way you ensure that all of the components of the finish are comparable with each other without having to sacrifice the instrument. Even with the best of tests, some issues may not appear until later.

In this case, perhaps a coat of shellac would act as an appropriate sealer between the dye and the varnish, allowing sufficient adhesion. 24 hours of dye drying time should have been sufficient. If the wood was really soaked, 48 hours might improve the result. This stuff is often trial and error and the experience so derived.

[Sam VanLaningham]

Ok thanks charles. I'm going with some dewaxed shellac then!

I'm also going to add 10% acetone to varnish (maybe not first coat?). This reportedly helps with witness lines (helps not solves says carruth, sexauer et al).

Trial and error is right!

Sam

[BlmJn]

Iron will rust in any medium even oil based varnishes. Most resins in varnishes will react with the iron and cause discoloration. Do not assume that because something is not water base that it will not react. I would not use steel wool.