How long to wait before buffing a lacquer finish?

[Greg Ketell]

I've never buffed anything with a lacquer finish before but the cold, wet weather made the finish on my current project less than optimum. Normally I would be lazy and knock it back with 0000 steel wool and call it a day but it is for my wife and she wants it high gloss.

It is about 6 coats of Deft rattle-can gloss lacquer. How long does it need to cure before it is safe to buff?

thanks in advance for the info!
gk

[Thom Sturgill]

I try to give it a least a week two or three is better. Buff lightly and keep the piece moving. the heat will disolve the finish,

[Alan Trout]

This sounds crazy but keep smelling the piece. When it no longer smells like solvent then it is ready to buff. Lacquer while dry to the touch dries quickly it can take a while to cure depending on the mil thickness that was applied.

Alan

[Greg Ketell]

Thank you, gents. I'll keep waiting and sniffing. When it is done I'll post up pictures.

[Jim Burr]

Thank you, gents. I'll keep waiting and sniffing. When it is done I'll post up pictures.

Is it that little guy I saw?

[Greg Ketell]

That's the one, Jim!

[David DeCristoforo]

Well now. Deft is a solvent based lacquer. So while Alan's method might work, you will be destroying brain cells while you are testing your lacquer and waiting for it to cure. Just thought you might like to know...

Also, six coats out of a "rattle can" might be a bit on the thin side if you are after a high gloss.

[Alan Trout]

Now David,

I did not tell him to put it in a bag with his head and huff it for a while. A quick sniff is all it takes what is one or two brain cells among friends:) But I do agree 6 coats may be a little thin. It may work if it is a nice tight grained wood.

Alan

[John Coloccia]

If you want it to REALLY look good, spray about 8 - 10 coats and wait about 3 weeks. Then sand it flat and buff. You spray more coats so that you have room to sand it flat without sanding through the finish. Sanding flat is a critical step to getting a really incredible "pro" finish. The sniff test is one that is used by many luthiers, but just waiting a reasonable amount of time works too. A key is to only spray 3, or so, coats per day or the finish will essentially skin over and trap solvent. The whole point of waiting is to allow the finish to gas off and shrink so that once you've sanded flat and buffed, the finish won't keep moving and ruin all of your hard work.

[Faust M. Ruggiero]

Greg,
Waiting a couple weeks will give you time to order a few pieces of Abralon. It's the perfect material for rubbing our lacquer. Use it to rub lightly between coats to level the surface by removing microscopic undulations. Scuff sanding will also level any overspray. I spray two or three coats then level with 360 and a light hand. Then two more and so on. It's not how much you spray on that counts, it's how much you leave on. After the lacquer fully dries and cures start with 1000 grit and a bit of mineral oil or even mineral spirits as a lubricant. Go through 2,3 and 4000 grit. Then decide if you want to buff to full gloss. It sounds crazy spraying gloss then knocking it back to flat and bringing it back to gloss but depth every coat including the final coat being level. All those tiny bumps that you can see if you aim light from the side and view the surface, deflect light in a scattered manner. Leveling the surface then polishing smooths out the reflection.
Yea, I know, I'm nuts but to me a good turning deserves a magnificent finish. When I manufactured womens' clothing I used to preach that an average job of sewing could look great with a perfect press but a bad pressing job could make perfect sewing look lousy.
faust

[Greg Ketell]

Thank you all for your feedback! The knowledge on this forum is invaluable!

The procedure I followed on this was to spray 4-5 coats, let them dry for a few days. They ended up rougher than any in the past so I gently sanded back to smooth use 400 and 600 sandpaper and then shot a couple more coats of lacquer. I guess it is the weather but normally the Deft goes on glass smooth but this time it orange peeled and got micro bubbles like never before.

I will give it a couple more days (while waiting for a drier day), then sand it smooth and shoot it again. If that doesn't come out smooth then it will at least have enough coats on it to do the full buffing process a few weeks later.

Thanks one and all for your guidance!