spray finish/lacquer?

[JOHN VITOSKY]

I bought some deft clear glossy finish spray last night and took it home and shook it and then sprayed it on some wood. It came out kinda gray and then dried clear, but then it wasnt smooth finish. Is this normal. It scared me when it came out kinda gray.

[Jim Becker]

Was the tempurature up around 70º or so? Did you put on very thin coats? Did you shake it for quite a while to insure it was fully mixed?

(BTW, be sure you use Deft lacquer {or any other lacquer} in a very well ventilated area with no open flames...it's not something to spray in the house, either)

[JOHN VITOSKY]

It was about prolly 60s and i did even thin spray but i was wondering if it is supposed to come out the same color as pledge furniture polish?

[Dennis Peacock]

Yes...a lot of the "color" you see flashes off as it's propellent, air, and thinner. The lacquer you buy in a spray can is heavily thinned to enable it to be easily sprayed through the designed nozzle. I was a "beta tester" for Deft no too many years back to test the function of the newly designed spray nozzle.

You have to remember that lacquer and shellac are finishes to "build", so thin coats are preferred for better control and to prevent runs.

[Rich Stewart]

I asked a friend of mine about lacquer and he was telling me it's kind of a fine line as far as coats go. He says you have to get the wood 'wet' but not wet enough to run. If you go too thin it comes out rough looking. I have done some experimenting based on this advise and it seems to be correct. Also I was not using Deft. I was using Ace Hardware brand.

Rich

[David Walser]

Rich,

Your friend was correct. Lacquer is "self-leveling", which means that the "dimples" from a sprayer (or the brush marks from a brush) will disapear as the finish hardens -- but only if you have a heavy enough coat of lacquer for this process to work. As I said on a similar thread on a similar topic, the rule of thumb we used in the furniture mill was to put on a heavy coat if we were using a brush and a light coat if we were spraying. In either case, we were trying to put on as much as we could without the lacquer running or pooling. (The reason we could put more on with a brush is that application was typically reserved for a hand touch up where we could keep the piece horizontal. When spraying, there were typically several vertical surfaces where a heavy application would run. Besides, "the self-leveling" feature of lacqure is more important with brush marks than it is with spray dimples.)

On turnings, I like to apply a heavy coat with a brush and then wipe off the extra. This leaves a fairly thin coat, but given the shape of most turnings, anything heavier will run.