Sure, I'll Be Glad to Paint That...Part 4

Progress slowed yesterday as a result of the paint not having dried fully yet. It was dry to the touch, but was tacky - due to the humidity. It was still damp enough that almost any touch left a light mark on the surface. Never the less I did manage to get a couple of things done.

Step 7
- Re-assemble the tables. This took about 2 hours. The bolts I had to drive and reverse screw out had to be pounded back in and some had been bent slighting, which made getting the nuts back on a challenge. I eventually got them all back together. For the record, the table I built took far less time than the one dad built because of the bolt issues not existing on my table.

Step 8
- Fine sand uneven areas of the paint.
- I used 400 grit paper and the power sander to smooth some thick or otherwise uneven places in the finish.
- This was when I started deciding that things might be too wet still to proceed. The sander was causing some of the runs to gum up rather than just sanding them off.
- After a quick call to my dad I decided to let them sit overnight again before proceeding.

Step 9
- Carry the tables inside the house where it's not so humid so that the paint can dry.
- By the time dad suggested putting them out in the sun to dry it was too late to do that yesterday, so I opted to set them inside the house (with the feet sitting on Wal-Mart bags just in case anything was wet on the bottom) overnight to help the drying process. It seems to have worked. By this morning, the finish was much smoother and less tacky.


The following steps took place Friday morning.


Step 10
- The second coat!
- I figured out pretty early on that a second coat over most of the surface area would be needed. I opted to do this with the tables re-assembled so that it could be the final coat (hopefully) - by allowing me to see any scuffs I'd caused putting them back together or any areas that hadn't been painted and would show.
- Thankfully this step didn't require much paint as I was about out. I managed to hit all of it a second time and still have just a little to spare in case I need to do any additional touch ups.
- There are definitely some areas up underneath the tables that only got one coat or that didn't get painted at all, however these are areas that will likely never be seen and I chose not to paint them to avoid getting paint everywhere and avoid getting it all over the hardware.

Step 11
- Wait
- They are now drying in the garage. I will probably leave them there overnight tonight and then if we get sun tomorrow put them outside to bake all day. Hopefully that will be sufficient to then bring them inside on Saturday and declare this project OVER or as the interns loved to say "done".