Has anyone used the Stewmac wipe on poly?

[Oliver1]

Thanks for the link John. I'd be so happy with results like that.
I've used other wipe on finishes on furniture that instruct you to wipe it on, wipe off, let dry and repeat. I think you wiped a coat on, no wiping off, let dry, repeat 2 times more, then level sand and repeat, is that right?
Thanks again for the help.

[tippie53]

yes follow the instruction on the can.

[Andy Mitchell]

A little late to the party, and not an expert in finishing by any measure, but that minwax stuff does a really decent job IMHO.

Now, I have zero experience with shellac or tru-oil to compare to so take that recommendation with a grain of salt. But I have painted cars/motorcycles and done woodworking for a number of years and you could do far worse than use wipe-on poly if you don't have the facilities to spray some 'better' finish. All my experience with furniture says it's tough as nails too, which is sort of a bonus if all you are concerned about is the levelling and shine.

[tippie53]

wipe on poly , go to home depot and get min wax its cheaper and will work just as well

[tippie53]

viewtopic.php?f=6&t=8498&p=48246&hilit= ... oly#p48246

here is a link to the minwax process I used

[JLT]

Well, as I posted on a more recent thread on finishing an electric solid-body guitar:

Rummaging around in my finishing materials drawer, I found some water-based rosewood stain from Minwas, some water-based rosewood pore filler from LMI, and a bottle of Stew-Mac water-based wipe-on poly. So that's what I'll probably end up using. I wish I had some mahogany to use as a test-strip, but I do have some sapele which is pretty close to mahogany, so I'll make a trial run with that.

I'll let you know how it turns out. Bear in mind that this is a solid-body guitar I'm talking about.

[phavriluk]

Unless conclusively proven to be unique and of outstanding quality, I stay away from anything Stew-Mac sells. I don't need to spend twice as much for a product no better than its competitors.

[JLT]

An update:

When I posted this question on the Acoustic Guitar Forum, I got some replies that the water-based wipe-on poly tends to leave what they called a "cloudy" finish... not quite clear, I guess. I think I'm going to go ahead and use it anyway, just to see what they're talking about. It's more of a project guitar than one I'm building for looks, anyway (I've got two of those in progress, and they'll be finished with the nitro-cellulose stuff from Mohawk.)

[JLT]

Well, the neck is finished with ten coats of Tru-Oil, and the body with six coats of the Stew-Mac wipe-on poly. I'm pleased with the way the body looks. I left the mahogany unstained, since I liked the look of the wood.

The instructions on the poly bottle tell you that when you're done with the finishes, do a last pass with 400-grit sandpaper and buff. I don't have a buffing wheel, but I do have time, and I'm wondering if I need it when I can just use a succession of Micro Mesh polishing pads. Is there a down-side to this, or a better way of getting that nice high-gloss finish without a buffing wheel or drill-mounted buffing pads?