A friend has an OLD walnut table that had a very badly damaged lacquer
finish. The only way to fix it was to strip it down to the bare wood
and now I need to re-finish it.
Since it was finished once, the pores are already filled and it won't
really take stain.
I have worked out and tested a scheme to do the job. It works and has
a highly polished finish.
However, his wife has expressed a desire for a finish that is not
highly polished. Here is what I have done so far (on a test piece of
wood)
1) I found that using just finish coats created a muddy and dark
finish. I started over
and applied a coat of "light golden oak" dye and rubbed it
out pretty hard. This gave the
a nice lightened orange tone
2) I followed that with a sealer coat of amber shellac.
3) Applied 5 coats of water borne lacquer.
4) sanded up to 2000 grit.
5) used liquid car polishing compound
6) applied 2 coats of wax
The result is nice highly polished finish. The dye gave the
finish a lot of "life". The only negative is that a finger nail can
make an impression in the surface. Is that normal, or did I put the
lacquer on too heavy. ( The test was done with a brush. The table
will be sprayed and I will be able to control the thickness better.)
The friend's wife does not desire a highly polished finish. How do
I get there from here? I have been putting this job off because I
don't want to screw up the table and need to strip it again. But you
can only put off a good friend for a few years.
Len
On 6/14/2009 2:48 PM [email protected] spake thus:
> I have worked out and tested a scheme to do the job. It works and has
> a highly polished finish.
> However, his wife has expressed a desire for a finish that is not
> highly polished. Here is what I have done so far (on a test piece of
> wood)
>
> 1) I found that using just finish coats created a muddy and dark
> finish. I started over
> and applied a coat of "light golden oak" dye and rubbed it
> out pretty hard. This gave the
> a nice lightened orange tone
>
> 2) I followed that with a sealer coat of amber shellac.
> 3) Applied 5 coats of water borne lacquer.
> 4) sanded up to 2000 grit.
> 5) used liquid car polishing compound
> 6) applied 2 coats of wax
>
> The result is nice highly polished finish. The dye gave the
> finish a lot of "life". The only negative is that a finger nail can
> make an impression in the surface. Is that normal, or did I put the
> lacquer on too heavy. ( The test was done with a brush. The table
> will be sprayed and I will be able to control the thickness better.)
I'd do everything you did up above, with one exception: use oil-based
varnish (*not* polyurethane) instead of lacquer. (A little difficult to
find, but it is still available.)
Lacquer is softer than varnish, as you've discovered. It's also prone to
damage from water (like water rings if a wet glass is left standing on
it). Varnish is harder, more durable, plus *much* easier to apply; you
can get a glass-smooth finish with a brush, and don't have to be in a
rush to finish before it sets up. (Lacquer starts to dry very quickly,
as I'm sure you've experienced.)
Use satin varnish rather than glossy. You'll like the results.
--
Found--the gene that causes belief in genetic determinism
On 6/14/2009 6:46 PM Larry Blanchard spake thus:
> On Sun, 14 Jun 2009 17:15:44 -0700, David Nebenzahl wrote:
>
>> Use satin varnish rather than glossy. You'll like the results.
>
> But if you're doing multiple coats, make them all gloss but the last one
> so you won't muddy the finish.
Yes.
> Or just use the gloss and rub it out with some extra fine steel wool.
I like your first idea better.
--
Found--the gene that causes belief in genetic determinism
On Sun, 14 Jun 2009 17:15:44 -0700, David Nebenzahl wrote:
>
> Use satin varnish rather than glossy. You'll like the results.
But if you're doing multiple coats, make them all gloss but the last one
so you won't muddy the finish. Or just use the gloss and rub it out with
some extra fine steel wool.
--
Intelligence is an experiment that failed - G. B. Shaw