I doubt this method is much used in furniture work, but actually an excellent method of sealing AND putting a hard skin with a lot of ding resistance over softer woods is to laminate a layer of 0.5 - 1.0 oz/yard woven fiberglass matting.
Before anybody panics this is not the hairy stuff most are used to, it's a very lightweight fabric that's a bit lighter than say a linen handkerchief and with an open enough weave to conform to 3D curves.
It's even possible as a variant to vacuum bag it while it cures to enable the use of quite heavy cloths over less sharply curved surfaces - provided your bag does not adhere to your resin/clear coat.
I've used it a lot in model aircraft construction. In that case it's common to put it down over wood by brushing a coat of epoxy resin thinned 50/50 with methanol (isopropyl alcohol would probably do the job too) over the top. A bog standard quite wide paintbrush works just fine, as the thinned resin is water like and takes no brush marks. The alcohol flashes off a few minutes after going down to leave a thin application of full strength resin which has also impregnated the wood.
It literally goes down as quickly as you can brush it on, conforms to very tight 3D curves with no tendency to spring up and the odd overlap etc is not a problem as the cloth is so thin. You could (and possibly should consider if you need an especially tough surface) using a slightly heavier cloth than 0.5 oz/yd2 on furniture work (weight is not an issue), but some experiment would be needed to select a cloth with the required ability to conform.
The surface left after the first coating is sealed, but clearly shows the weave of the cloth, and the odd almost gloss patch (depending on the absorbency of the wood - a second is normally required (reduce the resin dilution to give a thicker coating) to fill it completely. Trim off any overhang using a 180 grit sanding block or similar rubbed along the edge of the wetted area, and brush down any dry cloth left along the edge. (the cloth as a result does not have to be cut to size accurately) - this method is really quick on a corner. Then give it a quick rub with 180 paper to skin off any specks and loose glass strands. (only) Don't try to sand down into the cloth.
Epoxy works well, and if flatted with 180 wet and dry after the second coat leaves (without any primer) a really sound base for a sprayed finish using two pack polyurethane acrylics. My experience is with car paints, but i'd imagine that the furniture variety would work well too.
I've heard of this being done using other resins and paint types too (e.g. two pack clear, cellulose lacquers etc), but haven't used them
MOST DEFINITELY DON"T TRY THIS ON YOUR LATEST PRIDE AND JOY without trialling your choice of materials and methodology on the same wood and shapes, and figuring what it can and can not do. It should be OK with wood movement, but it needs some investigation and/or testing. Ditto without checking the H&S on whatever materials you use and proceeding accordingly.
That said a brushed down layer of glass cloth (using whatever clear finish you have chosen - having proven its suitability and compatibility), followed by a light rub down (you will cut through the cloth of you are heavy handed - as above the task is just to remove stray glass fibres and specks sitting on the surface of the cloth), followed by a couple of sprayed coats of the same clear finish would i expect deliver a fabulous 'mile deep' clear coating off the gun.
The extra labour would not be much given the speed with which the glass cloth goes down, the ease with which it finishes, and the fact that couple of clear coats should give an excellent finish out of the gun.
Rustins Plastic coating may well be an option for this, but urea formaldehyde while waterproof apparently does not do well if left immersed.
Has anybody else encountered this sort of method?
