GF high performance satin/hide glue

[Troywoodyard]

Guys, I have a mess in my hands and need help. I built a kitchen table and used 3 white oak boards joined with old brown hide glue. It’s a reversible glue that is activated by water. I put my first coat of poly on and it raised the grain... sanded and applied second coat... raised the grain just near the glue line... sanded and applied third coat, same result. I think it’s not actually raising the grain but rather activating the glue line and a bit of residue in the open pores of the oak and swelling, causing the finish to bubble. I grabbed a scraper and scraped the line, then added more poly. Same result.

What’s the protocol here? Sand the whole top and then seal it with something oil based, then apply the gf high performance on top of that? I would just grab arm r seal, but I have already completely finished the table base and the underside of the top with water based poly.

Any advice?

Thanks in advance.

[jteneyck]

Grain raising is the one thing I dislike about WB products.  To avoid that from happening, I first spray a coat of Sealcoat shellac unless I want an absolutely amber free look.  The shellac will minimize any grain raising.  It also will seal in any water reactive materials, like your Old Brown hide glue, and that should eliminate the problem you're having.  

To do what I'm suggesting you would have to strip the entire table top.  That's not necessarily a bad thing because GF's High Performance isn't all that high in performance against household cleaners like might get used on a kitchen table top.  Anything with ammonia in it is deadly with only short exposure.  Hot dishes will stick to it, too.  GF has another product, however, that looks just like HP Poly but has much better chemical durability.  It's called Enduro Clear Poly.  It's a spray only product, however.  If you can't spray then I recommend you use GF's EnduroVar.  It's perhaps even more chemically durable than Clear Poly and can be applied by spray or brush.  It has an amber tint to it, however, so it won't look exactly the same as HP Poly.  

If you are very careful folks, however, and don't set hot dishes directly on the table, and only use water and mild soap to clean up, then HP Poly will likely work just fine for many years.  

Whatever you decide to use, apply a coat of Sealcoat shellac first to the raw wood.  If you can't spray then use Zinsser rattle can shellac, two coats, lightly sanding between coats.    

John

I had another thought that's worth trying before stripping the whole thing.  You could try carefully scraping the problem area where the hide glue is giving you trouble.  Once it's down to bare wood apply some Sealcoat shellac using a fine artist's brush just on the glue seam.  Carefully sand off whatever spreads out on the face of the wood.  Apply two coats if the first completely soaks in.  Now try applying your HP Poly and building it back up in the area you scraped, followed by a final coat on the whole top.  

John