Lacquer Finishing?

I have tried my first attempt at using lacquer for a finish on a small bowl. It did not turn out like I hoped it would. I don't think it was the lacquer but my method of application. I applied with a brush and when dry sand with fine sandpaper. However the finish was rough and it appears the lacquer ran on the wood. What is the proper method for lacquer finishes Harry

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I don't like to brush lacquer on a turning because I tend to get it too much on it and the lacquer runs. I prefer many lite mistings with a spray can. It dries pretty quick and can be reapplied soon. fwiw

Tom

Lacquer is a finish that begs to be sprayed. Because it dries rapidly it is difficult to brush; but since it dries rapidly you can keep bits of dust and "stuff out of" it. If you do get something in it, you can sand out the finish, and spray another on.

If you work with a brush in an irregular surface (a bowl or vase as opposed to a flat door), because of lacquer's viscosity it is very easy to get a run. But then again, since it is thin, and can be thinned even more with absolutely no harm, you can spray mulitple coats with 30 minutes of each other building a nice finish to be buffed or polished out. It is a "build finish", so you can put as many coats as you want on it and they should all bond perfectly to each other.

If you want a shiny finish to put on while the piece is on the lathe, try thinned shellac with a little boiled linseed oil and a soft rag. It is easy to put on and easy to repair if needed.

If you want to spray a shiny finish on it, spray lacquer from a can or spray rig as a last process in finishing your piece, preferably off the lathe. Personally, I have never had any luck with lacquer on the lathe unless it was a completed piece that I was finishing. The closest I came was on a small piece where I kept the piece mounted in the chuck and rotated the piece while holding the brush in place.

Robert

As otehrs have noted, Laquer nearly begs to be sprayed. If your bowl was already off of the lathe when you brushed it on, you are very likely to either have brush marks or runs. Brush marks happen when you don't put on enough, and runs when you put on too much. It's difficult to get a balance between these relative extremes when brushing on a bowl

If the bowl was still on the lathe, it's a simple matter to spin the late very slowly (I use 40 rpm) and spray the lacquer on with a small "touch up" sized gun (Harbor Freight sells these for around $30 normally, but periodically has them on sale as low as $10 or 15 which is when I buy them. One will last a couple of years in moderate use if you don't drop it. Drop it and the trigger breaks, so it pays to have a spare, particularly at the $10 price point. Thin the lacquer 50 to 100% with thinner and spray away with about 40psi pressure. You can load it on pretty thick if you can leave your lathe turning very slowly (like I said, I use about 40 RPM), as the turning will help prevent sags when you over-spray...

Between coats the most you need to do is use some steel wool to knock off the nibs (if you allowed dust to get on it before it was tack free), even if it is several days between coats. Over do it, and it's time for the dripping wet lacker thininer soaked rag to mop the finish off, dry it off, a quick pass with steel wool and start over. This is necessary on perhaps one bowl a year, when I am seriously distracted while shooting, or otherwise really overload the finish...

Good Luck

--Rick

Harry Curley wrote: