Wife and I are remodeling the kitchen and for the time being we decided on putting in a butcher block countertop.

We wanted to stain and put polyurethane on it for color and ease of maintenance.

The stain was a bust. We tried the water based stain and it was horrible so we sanded it off.

From there we put the polyacrylic on the sanded wood.

No matter how I try to put it on it will either have dry patches, bubbles, or brush strokes.

I have tried slow brush strokes, fast brush strokes, thick and thin coats, I even wet the brush with water before one coat. I brush in the direction of the wood grain. I tried only in a left to right direction and also in a back and forth direction.

After sanding I wipe and even used a tack cloth.

i am using a Purty brush and only stirring the poly, no shaking.

Am I missing something or is this as good as it gets?