A word to the wise about Anchor Seal. Be careful when buying Anchor Seal from retailers such as Woodcraft because there are now two formulas available, helpfully marketed as Anchor Seal Classic with a blue label
Anchor Seal Classic
and Anchor Seal 2 with a green label.
Anchor Seal 2
Anchor Seal 2 is intended to be more environmentally responsible but reviews have been consistently poor. Users report that checks are much more common than with classic Anchor Seal and that control multiple coats are required to achieve the same quality of moisture loss. While I am also testing a PVA [polyvinyl acetate] formulation from an alternative vendor, my best experiences to date have all been with Anchor Seal and I just ordered an additional gallon directly from the manufacturer, which sells both the classic and the secondary formulations for exceedingly reasonable prices including “free” shipping. BTW, “PVA” is fancy term for what most of us know as “white glue,” “school glue,” or good old-fashioned Elmer’s! You can make your own wood sealant for far less money by diluting wood glue as opposed to buying it from wood turning vendors with fancy chemical labels once you understand the basic ingredients hiding behind intimidating looking initials.
As always, I wish all my readers a great experience in whatever their wood working interests happen to be and to those who like working with lathes especially, do a good turn today!