Finish Work and some questions ?

Dan Mosley

Member
Messages
1,169
Location
Palm Springs, Ca
I have always experimented with my finishing techniques and yet to find the finish that I would call best.
- I also have used Seal a Cell and Armor Seal with good results but i like using Laquer more i guess
- Just bought some Behlen's Laquer and have not used it yet but have heard its a very good product
- Alot of times i just leave the laquer finish alone and do not buff because I do not see that big of a difference and depending on the project i think not buffing works out better

Pic 1 & 2 shows a bowl finished with 2 coats of Danish oil wet sanded in with 320 and 500 and buffed with WD and Carnuba. The vessels were given 2-3 coats of Danish oil wet sanded in with 320 and 500 and 2-3 coats and laquer and buffed with WD and Carnuba.

Pic 3 & 4 is a large vessel i worked on today and finish is pending

Pic 5 - Bowl posted before with finish work pending also

I was at a craft show downtown the other week and started talking to a guy that had some wood carvings for sale. The finish work on the wood was really nice - some semi and some gloss and looked great - like tempting you to pick it up. He told me he uses laquer and does not buff but that he considered his finish a trade secret and didnt want to expand on how he does it..........ahhhhhhhhhhh

Sooooo my question is does any else use laquer in another way other than what I have described ? and did you get that mirror perfect looking finish ?
If not I guess ill keep chasing that perfect finish as i keep experimenting ......................LOL
 

Attachments

  • Finished-1.jpg
    Finished-1.jpg
    70.6 KB · Views: 34
  • Finished-2.jpg
    Finished-2.jpg
    74.5 KB · Views: 35
  • Large Vessel-1.jpg
    Large Vessel-1.jpg
    82.2 KB · Views: 33
  • Large Vessel-2.jpg
    Large Vessel-2.jpg
    86.9 KB · Views: 28
  • Roughout.jpg
    Roughout.jpg
    70.2 KB · Views: 33
Last edited:
One thing I don't do when buffing Dan is to buff with carnuba. Leaves to many fingerprints and if you have to get some rain or water on it, it will spot something awful. I have found that the only way to fix it is to remove the wax and start over. I now use Renaissance wax or water spots. It does not leave fingerprints. I use it on most turnings including pens. I do use a lot of lacquer but not on bowls if they are for utility purposes. When I use lacquer most times on vases, lidded boxes, etc. I rarely sand more than 320 or 400. To me going higher is a waste of time. After sanding I use shellac which I mix in 1 lb. and 2 lb. batches. Wet the piece down pretty good and then burnish it dry. Once off the lathe I will spray with lacquer. I don't buff lacquer. I see no need to. A friend of mine if Florida who is a pro turner and does a load of turning uses lacquer that is used for auto's. He buys it by the 5 gallon cans and uses a air powered spray gun. The smaller version with plastic cup on top. When he uses gloss his turnings are like glass and begged to be picked up. No way could I afford to do this being just a hobby turner.
 
Bernie - I usually sand to 320 or 400 but then ill use the 500 wet/dry to apply the Danish (or AO) while still on the lathe. The main reason is that it tends to push the oil down into the wood a bit better (<---my opinon only) and gives it a nice very smooth finish. I do this with 2-3 coats of the oil - knocking it down a bit between each coat. At that point I try to decide how i want to apply the final finish whether laquer or ? I am turning alot of mesquite wood so i need to fill the pores and I find that 3 coats or so seems to work well for that part of things.

I use the rattle can laquer because i to am just doing this as a hobby and do not want to invest in any fancy rig for spraying the turning and then having to clean the gun up - to much trouble for me so i stick to the hand finishes.
 
Last edited:
When I want a glass smooth lacquer finish, I start with multiple coats of sanding sealer to get a good surface. Then put on several thin coats of lacquer and wait a few days for the lacquer to cure. Then I sand with 600 grit lubricated with water to get rid of orange peel, be careful not to sand through the lacquer. Automotive rubbing compound next and then 3M polishing compound. The sanding, rubbing & polishing are all done by hand but it does not take long. The key is surface prep before the lacquer.
 
For a gloss lacquer, I do about the same as Dennis, except I use buffing wheels and compounds instead of automotive compounds. (Although I've used the auto stuff with great success on flatwork.)

Dan, if you're not seeing a big difference after buffing sprayed lacquer, I'd guess you're either: A) not knocking off the orange peel thoroughly with 600 grit or so abrasives before buffing, or B) not using enough pressure and/or compound on your buffing wheels, particularly in the tripoli range of abrasiveness.

On a somewhat different subject, I think when you wet sand the Danish oil, you're not so much working the oil deeper into the wood as you are creating a slurry of oil and wood dust that eventually fills the pores. The times I've tried wet sanding with oil finishes it seemed to make the figure in the wood more drab, kind of blurring the contrast between the different shades of color.
 
Two ways to get a "wet" lacquer finish.

One way, which only works if you're moderately lucky, is to put it on & let it be, as many coats as you think will make for a good film (lacquer never makes a very thick film), never touching it with any abrasive or buffing equipment. That may or may not work out, so sometimes we go to the other way.

That second way is to apply a LOT of coats to build up the film thickness. There'll doubtless be some little imperfections here & there, and maybe even some really visible orange peel. Not to worry. The trick here, in this approach, is to expect those things. When the film is of decent thickness (six, eight coats)... wet-sand (water is fine) with 400-grit paper until all the imperfections & orange peel are gone, smoothed out. Continue wet-sanding up the grits to 2000-grit automotive papers. That'll end up with a nearly-wet look, with some very few barely discernable very fine scratches in the surface. You follow up with automotive "swirl remover", which is an ultra-fine polish with liquified carnauba in it. That takes out all the remaining visible marks, leaving you with a durable high-gloss wet-looking finish. Looks for all the world like you dipped it & it took a week to cure in a perfect dust-free environment. Because the carnauba only fills those nearly-microscopic scratches, there's none on the smooth surface itself so it doesn't pick up fingerprints any worse than straight lacquer.

The first approach is the basis for lacquer "dipping", which I do with my turned pens. After they're dipped, I don't ever touch 'em with an abrasive or buff. Don't need to. :)
 
Vaughn - yep i found that out to .....the drab look..... and what I have done is to wipe it down and apply clean oil and let dry for 15min plus and then wipe again. Not a big difference just using the oil to sand i suppose and experimenting but the drab look had to go. I use 50/50 laquer and laquer thinner alot of times to fill the pores and that works well and is fast.
You may be right about taking off the orange peel etc- going to try some of your ideas and Tim's..........thanks Dan

Tim - - good suggestions and im going to try them out thanks for the posting
 
Top