Using lacquer over BLO on figured Maple and getting some weird issues

[Nick Sorenson]

I have some really nice figured maple and I gave it a coat or two of BLO to pop out the grain and let it dry for a night. The next day I lacquer cleared it (traditional lacquer) and I'm noticing that in the flame/tiger stripes, and on the end grain in portions I'm getting a grey/white cloudy and almost grainy look. It works like blushing in that when I spray another coat it will disappear as the lacquer disolves the layer under it. But as time goes on it comes back. Any idea what this could be?

[Paul Grant]

BLO needs at least 3 days to cure...I usually leave it a week. Followed by shellac (just in case) then topcoat.

[Nick Sorenson]

Any idea what the gray grainy look is? It's weird, it'll disappear with another coat of clear then come back as it dries. Just like moisture blushing would.

[Prashun Patel]

Is it crazing that keeps getting remelt upon each spray?

[Scott Holmes]

How did you apply the BLO? Did you let it soak in for 15 minutes or so then wipe it dry? That's how it should be applied. If it appears wet later you should wipe it again. BLO should be cured and ready to top coat in 24 hours. Humidity will slow it a bit; I usually give it 48 hours, because Houston is very humid.

[Bob Wingard]

HA !!! ... yet another victim of "BLO" ... slop on a couple of good coats to make it real purty ... then try to figure out why a delicate finish won't stick to it. IF you're going to use that crap at all ... it sounds like you've WAY overused it. Best advice I can give is that you now must treat it like it's an exotic "oily" wood ... well, not really exotic, but certainly oily. Remove the lacquer .. wipe down the entire pice with lots of lacquer thinner to get enough of that crap off of the surface .. try respraying it again in hopes that it will stick to the cleaned surface.

[Howard Acheson]

What has been the temperature and humidity in your finishing area? Lacquer, with it's fast evaporating thinner, develops condensation in the finish. This condensation takes the look of a sort of cloudy gray in the finish. You should avoid finishing with fast drying finishes in high humidity and temperature.

If you are spraying, you can wait for drier weather and then spray on pure lacquer retarder. It will dissolve the existing lacquer and promote slower drying eliminating the "gray".

I also agree that BLO should be allowed 4- 5 days to cure before over coating with shellac or lacquer.

[Nick Sorenson]

To give a little more detail:
-raw wood sanded to 320
-BLO wiped on and not ultra wet with a rag.
-Let sit 15 minutes and wiped off
-Waited until the next morning and sprayed the first lacquer coat.
-Sprayed the next an hour later and successively around 7 coats

Currently, every time I add a coat it will dissolve the gray color for about 15 minutes. Then as the lacquer dries it comes back. Every coat is doing exactly the same thing. Looks clear as glass as it dissolves the the previous coat (melting in), then it grays as it dries. I'm hoping when I wet sand that it'll dry out if this is infact blush. I'm usually not too afraid of blushing because of the re-melt properties of lacquer. Each one moves the blush out and since I wet sand and buff, the blush is usually sanded/evaporated out of the last coat.

What I'm not sure of is if this is blush but it sure is reacting like it. The thing that baffles me is that the wood not BLO-d isn't doing this (that I can see anyways).

[Harvey Pascoe]

I don't understand why you'd use BLO under lacquer. How can you expect oil and lacquer to be compatible?

[Conrad Fiore]

Nick,
You said the problem in in the figured and end grain areas. Those are the areas that would have absorbed the most BLO and would have taken the longest to cure. Since it's not happening on non-BLO'd material, I would guess that it is the uncured BLO leaching up into the lacquer. How to fix this I couldn't say.

[Chris Fournier]

I have usd BLO under nitrocellulose lacquer for almost twenty years. BLO under NC imparts a very nice look to certain projects. When this technique is used on figured maple guitar tops that also have colour work done on them the oil "mellows and matures" the guitar look giving it a more vintage look. It will separate the look of your guitar from the standard factory offerings out there for sure.

I'm quite certain that your BLO was not fully dried when you hit your project with lacquer. To fix this you can do two things. One add a suitable amount of Japan Dryer to the BLO to ensure speedy drying and make sure that the project is in a 70 degrees F environment for a couple of days to be safe. A quick test is to place your thumb on the oiled object and hold it there for several seconds. If you can see an oily thumb print on the project surface, you know that the oil has not dried. Two, only use as much BLO as is required to get the project wet. Flooding the project with BLO is not a good idea at any time really. Just use a wet cloth to wipe on the oil.

I would never put BLO under a NC lacquer finish without my trusty vinyl sanding sealer coat. Once the VSS is on you can top coat to your hearts content.

[Nick Sorenson]

Well bad news. I ended up having to completely strip the finish. I had around 12 coats of clear on there and it took quite a while to get it all of. But I had to start over. I sanded and the problem didn't disappear so that told me, time to strip and refinish.

I tested on scrap before I sprayed the work piece (a guitar neck) and it worked. But I guess that was not on end grain so I wasn't able to see the reaction I'd get in situation. Chris I'll have to try the Vinyl seal coat if I try BLO again. But that's finishing. It's all new and untested until it's been tested so now I know. I will need to experiment with maybe a little less BLO next time and see if that helps. I didn't drench it but I didn't use it sparingly either. I applied it like I would an oil based stain with a rag.

[Bob Direso]

Nick, Sorry to hear of your frustrating problems with your finish. I have used BLO for many years with great results, but I wait 24 hours then apply one coat of shellac as a sealer. Then you can go forward with anything, which in my case is usually varnish. Good luck with your second attempt, Bob.