Sealing Balsa Fins?

sooner.boomer said:

For a long time, I made my own sanding sealer by mixing baby powder into clear dope. You can tailor the mix; more powder, more filling and easier sanding - less powder, harder surface. I gave up sealing with dope because of the smell (I do a lot of work inside the house in the winter). I started mixing up water-based clear polyurethane instead. The added benefit is water clean up.

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Rktman said:

Do you use a specific brand of polyurethane that you can recommend, like Minwax Polycrilic or Varathane?
Are the fumes/smell any less?

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sooner.boomer said:

I used General Products High Performance Poly. It's just what I happened to have on hand, I use it a lot. Since it's water-cleanup (water-based?) there's very little smell. Another very similar finish is Minwax Water-Based Polycrylic; I use it a lot, too. I haven't made grain filler using it, but it looks a lot like the GP poly, and might be easier to find.

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sooner.boomer said:

I used General Products High Performance Poly. It's just what I happened to have on hand, I use it a lot. Since it's water-cleanup (water-based?) there's very little smell. Another very similar finish is Minwax Water-Based Polycrylic; I use it a lot, too. I haven't made grain filler using it, but it looks a lot like the GP poly, and might be easier to find.

Click to expand...