New to the world of DIY. I'm giving a new life to my old furniture. I sanded, stained and now varnished it but the varnish have small bumps in it (might be air bubbles) which gives it a rugged texture... idk what's causing that and how to fix it. This is my first coat so I can fix it with another one maybe but I don't want to make the same mistake twice. I've sanded this thing for days and don't want to start over.
>>2952031did you use a water based stain? did you water pop it before or after? if your stain was water based, it's likely that the grain were raised and you needed to sand off the fuzz first before varnish. Given this is your first coat, what you are seeing is a combination of raised grain/standing fuzz as well as just general bubbles and dust. For the first 2-3 coats, sand with a higher grit sandpaper (320/400) after varnish dries and it'll get rid of those. For your final coat, you usually have a smooth enough surface that you don't want to sand after. You wax after.
>>2952034It doesn't say on the can if it's a water based stain but it's gel stain if that helps. I didn't water pop beforehand. It's one of those things I said "meh it probably doesn't change much" I think I did on one of drawer but didn't do it for the rest.So by sanding and adding new coats it should smooth out the surface from the raised grain?
>>2952042if you don't sand through your varnish layer (which is why I suggest higher grit like 320 or 400 and don't going at it too hard), then you'll only be taking off the high spots and smoothing it out, and repeating that 2-3 times at least with varnish with result in a smoother finish after each step. Basically after the first two coats, you're no longer sanding the wood, you're sanding the finish and making it smoother (which is why higher and higher grits are used in things like gunstocks that have a smooth glass mirror finish).
>>2952043won't it give it a hazy look?
>>2952044it'll haze up after sanding yes, which is why you then apply your varnish over it (and that in theory has the same solvent as your previous varnish layer so they meld together). This is also why you don't sand your final smooth coat. You wait for it to cure then you wax polish it. IF you have enough varnish buildup, you can straight up high grit polish it too and then wax it, and that'll be bartop finish quality.
>>2952045You're a god man, thank you! May you be blessed with a thousand virgin
>>2952048i really hope this is a boy :)
