First Bottle Stopper with finishing question.

Tom Baugues

Member
Messages
2,790
Location
Lafayette, Indiana
I ordered the bottle stoppers from Ruth Niles from the suggestions from this forum and am glad I did. They are first class and I will be proud to give these as gifts or maybe sell them. Anyway here is my first attempt. It's still on the lathe chuck waiting for the lacquer to dry. It is made out of Purpleheart. I sanded smooth then applied clear "Deft" spray on lacquer.
Question...do I need to sand between coats? Do I apply a wax after the lacquer has dried or leave as is?


Tom
 

Attachments

  • 181 resized.jpg
    181 resized.jpg
    43.7 KB · Views: 60
Well, I got two of them made today. It was fun to finally get out and start making some dust. I've been getting my "new" old Rockwell lathe set up and buying new chucks and tools and stuff but not making anything. So now I think I'm ready to finally make things. I'll post a photo of them both together later on when fully complete. I found that just applying light coats of lacquer one after another worked out quite well. I love the shine it put on them.

Tom
 
Frank is right. No you don't have to sand between coats. Lacquer melts into the next coat. On my bottle stoppers I put about 4 to 7 coats every 1/2 hr. Sold over 90 of them at Christmas of '07 and '08 with no complaints.
 
Congrats on your first stoppers. :thumb:

As the other guys said, layers of lacquer melt together, so sanding between coats isn't required. Still, I often sand with 400 grit between every 2 or 3 coats because I'm trying to also fill the pores of the wood to create a level surface on the piece. I keep applying lacquer and knocking down the high points until I get the surface I'm looking for.
 
Congrats on your first stoppers. :thumb:

As the other guys said, layers of lacquer melt together, so sanding between coats isn't required. Still, I often sand with 400 grit between every 2 or 3 coats because I'm trying to also fill the pores of the wood to create a level surface on the piece. I keep applying lacquer and knocking down the high points until I get the surface I'm looking for.

Tom,
I haven't tried Ruth's stoppers yet, but planning to... I like yours.. great design.. should be well received.:thumb::thumb:

Not to Hi-jack your thread, but question for both you and Vaughn.. when you apply spray lacquer... do you spray it on the lathe and with the lathe turning?? Haven't tried the lacquer yet and thinking might be a quicker finish than some I'm doing.:dunno:
 
Not to Hi-jack your thread, but question for both you and Vaughn.. when you apply spray lacquer... do you spray it on the lathe and with the lathe turning?? Haven't tried the lacquer yet and thinking might be a quicker finish than some I'm doing.:dunno:

Chuck. This is the first time Ive used spray lacquer but, yes... I sprayed my pieces while still on the lathe. I slowed it down real slow then shot the piece with several short bursts of spray then as Bernie suggested I applied several layers about 1/2 hour apart.

Tom
 
Tom I would like to see a pic's of it after it is finished and mounted on the stopper.

Bernie here is the first three kits that I have done. Wood is (L to R) Purpleheart, Osage Orange and Bocote. These were fun to turn. I look forward to turning many more.

Tom

PS...I forgot to add that I live in Purdue country here. Go Boilers!
 

Attachments

  • 187 resized.jpg
    187 resized.jpg
    77.3 KB · Views: 20
...Not to Hi-jack your thread, but question for both you and Vaughn.. when you apply spray lacquer... do you spray it on the lathe and with the lathe turning?? Haven't tried the lacquer yet and thinking might be a quicker finish than some I'm doing.:dunno:

So far I haven't used lacquer on any bottle stoppers, just bowls, platters and hollow forms. For bottle stoppers and other small pieces I finish on the lathe, I've used either CA or Myland's Friction Polish. I've gotten real fond of Myland's for little pieces, but I still buff them afterward to remove the visible rings from the application.

I finish bowls and other larger items (with wipe-on finishes and/or lacquer) off the lathe after the bottom is finished and signed. Any sanding between coats is done by hand or with my 2" ROS.
 
Top