finishing oak with Sherwin Williams Pre-Cat too Glossy

[Terry Welty]

I am finally at the point I'm ready to finish a bathroom vanity, shelf unit and clothes hamper that I've made out of oak. I am using Sherwin Williams vinyl sealer T67F3 catalyzed and SW Pre-cat T77F37 Medium Rubbed Lacquer. I finish sanded a test piece with 240 grit. Sprayed two medium coats of the sealer, sanded with 380 grit and then applied two medium coats of the unthinned lacquer... The piece looks great, but way to shiney for the wife!! I used a Binks 2001 siphon feed gun, 55 lbs air pressure seemed to spray the best... approx. 8" from the piece, temperature was in the 80's. (I'll probably switch to my HVLP gun when I do the actual pieces.) I am a former autobody guy and sprayed a ton of lacquer paint back in the 70's ... this is the first time I've tried to spray wood finishes...
Is there a flattner available? Should I do any grain filling? Any other suggestions would be greatly appreciated!! :confused:

[Tony Joyce]

Not sure if they have a flattener for this product or not, check with your local Sherwin Williams rep. I use the same product(T77), but use the F38 which is "Dull Rubbed Effect". Looks about like a semi-gloss to me. The more build(coats) you get the more glossy it will be. Not much help I know.

[Jeff Monson]

I dont think I'd be filling the grain on a vanity. The only time I'd fill grain on oak is on a horizontal surface that you want perfectly smooth. I've used quite a bit of medium rubbed SW precat, never thought it was really shiney though. Are you putting on too much product? Thin coats that should be dry to the touch in just a few minutes (given your temp.) is what I would aim for. I'd also try your hvlp and see what results you get, I also thin my precat usually around 15%.

[Micah Carter]

Keep in mind that it's the top coat that determines the sheen of the finish. You can spray 10 coats of gloss and a top coat of flat, and you've got a flat finish. Same thing works in reverse. Since a gloss finish is stronger than a lower sheen, your best bet is to add flatteners only to the top coat. I'm not familiar with this product, but if it's alkyd-resin based, any varnish flattening additive will do.

You can also stick a gray scotch-brite pad to a random orbit sander and knock down the sheen of a gloss finish without affecting the durability at all.

[Prashun Patel]

Couple things:

1) filling the grain is going to make a flatter surface which will reflect light more evenly, and will make yr surface even MORE (not less) shiny. So, I wouldn't grain fill.

2) The sheens of most gloss finishes tone down after use. I believe this is a function of the finish settling as it cures. It gets slightly uneven and refracts light more than when fresh. Second, through normal use, the surface gets naturally 'rubbed out' which takes the sheen down.

3) You can speed the process up by sanding the piece with 600 grit a couple days after the lacquer has dried. Lacquer like shellac rubs very nicely, so this should be an easy process. You can even use some oil lubricated 4#0 steel wool to rub out the surface. Rubbing out like this will not only lower the sheen, but will also make it nice and soft.

My advice is to try the above. If this does not work for you, you can always shoot a satin product on top of the medium (assuming you don't put any kind of wax on it during rub out).

[Scott Holmes]

Terry,

Did you make sure the lacquer was very well mixed before you shot it? The flatteners will settle out leaving a gloss finish at the top of the can and all the flatteners at the bottom. I'm guessing you didn't spray a lot of satin on cars...