Kitchen Doors

[Mike Goetzke]

I'm using WB finishes. I applied a coat of tinted shellac to pop the grain and tone the wood a bit. After applying this first coat the grain raised. Do I need to sand down the raised grain now or can I wait till after I apply my first coat of WB topcoat?

On most of my smaller jobs I sand between all coats. I'm just being lazy here - I have 22 doors to do and an extra step of sanding will add time to the job (and more pain to my arms). I was thinking of sanding after the 1st coat of topcoat and then before my 4th and final coat of topcoat.

Plus - I usually use 400 grit paper to smooth things out. Is there and better way?


Thanks,

Mike

[Howard Acheson]

Do not sand the tinted shellac. No matter how evenly you try to sand, you will leave an uneven film thickness on the wood. Uneven film thickness will mean that you end up with an uneven coloring.

The way to deal with it is to apply your first coat of clear, let it dry thoroughly and then use 320 paper mounted on a felt or rubber covered sanding block and lightly sand the surface. This means you will be sanding the prior finish, not the tinted finish. Keep the sanding light. Apply the next coat(s).

Many finishers do not "raise the grain" these days particularly on the very thin veneers on today's plywood. They follow the above procedure so they are sanding the finish, not the wood.