How long before rubbing out lacquer?

[Joe Tonich]

How long does it need to cure before rubbing it out? I need to give my buddy the cradle tomorrow and need to know if he has to bring it back to me later to rub it out. (I just sprayed it last night, 2 thin coats)

Thanks

Joe

[Lee Schierer]

I know that the lacquer based finish I use takes a week or so to get cured enough you can't smeel it when you move the piece into a room. I owuld be concenred if he is going to be using it so soon after finishing.

I normally wait a few days, depending upon the time of the year, before I rub it out.

I use Deft clear wood finish, os it is not the same as pure lacquer. In the winter months I apply it in an uheated building so it takes several days to get truly hard. In the summer when the temperature is higher, it takes far less time. I can sand and recoat in the same day.

[Patrick Lee Hiatt]

If you have only put on 2 thin coats you wont be able to rub out too much, only to satin. Did you use gloss lacquer and just want to rub out to satin, or did you use satin lacquer and only want to make it smoother(take away dust nibs etc..)?
Really with only 2 coats just a light steel wooling with 000 or 0000
steel wool and then wax would be okay. If you have let it dry overnight and you used a good fast dry lacquer you could steel wool and wax then, of course 2 days would be better. If you want to rub out to semigloss or higher you will need more coats.
P.S.
If you get your viscosity right and use a good lacquer you can get
great satin finishes off the gun. This is especially helpfull on things with alot of parts that would be hard to rub out.

When I first started spraying I used to rub everthing to make it smoother. But after I got a little more used to it I got to where I
got great finishes right off the gun. If I'm doing somthing like a gloss dining room table I will shoot Gloss (many coats) and wait a week and then rub and polish to a high gloss.

[Kirk (KC) Constable]

I'm not sure what your objective is in rubbing it out, but I 'built up' a lacquer finish on a table in order to get it truly flat and high gloss (Sherwin Williams pre-cat). I rubbed it out after a few days and it looked great...then a few days later I noticed some 'sinking' in some areas. I had plenty of lacquer on there so I started over. Same thing occurred. I finally let it sit for a couple weeks before doing it for the last time. I suspect I got to do it over because it wasn't fully cured.

If you just want to smooth it out and aren't concerned about bringing up the gloss or flattening the surface, I think you can do it now.

KC

[Steven Wilson]

NC laquer? 2-3 months before final wet sand and rub out

[Joe Tonich]

I need to smooth it out. Since I sprayed it , it feels rough. This is the first time w/lacquer and thought it has to be rubbed out for it to look it's best.

Thanks,

Joe

[Patrick Lee Hiatt]

Really satin lacquer should not be rubbed out, it should be used as a off the gun finish. If you want a satin finish gloss lacquer should be used and then you rub it with either rubbing compounds or steel wool to acheive a satin finish. If you keep rubbing to a higher grit with compounds you could take the same
finish up to gloss.
Some people do use steel wool and wax on satin lacquer to make it smoother. The steel wool dulls the lacquer and puts sort of noticable scratches in it but the wax brings a little shine and makes the scratches less noticable.
Shooting a really smooth satin finish is not that hard right off the gun. It just takes a little practice, and use of a good product
that lays out well and of course quick drying so dust does not settle in it.

[Joe Tonich]

What if I use the fine nylon pads? I used gloss. Will it scratch as bad as steel wool?

Joe

[Patrick Lee Hiatt]

You could try it, I think with just minimal coats of lacquer on the peice you will still need the wax to bring back a luster to the wood. But really its just what ever works to give you the effect that you want.

[Joe Tonich]

Thanks!

Joe