Question on bubbling from lacquer

[Craig D Peltier]

I have a question that my finisher cant figure out. When he sprays lacquer on clear on a cabinet, a lot of times small bubbles will form about 30 seconds after he sprays but this never happens on the hardwood pieces nor where the hardwood pieces meet the plywood for say the first inch onto the plywood. Even second coat will do the same?I know he has a couple filters one out of compressor and one near gun to prevent any condensation.Thanks

[Todd Burch]

I occasionally get bubbles too. I have seen them develop on a glued up panel on some boards and not others. I have attributed this to the temperature of the wood, the surrounding atmosphere temperature, the film coat thickness and the characteristics of the pores (openness) in the wood.

Could your "1 inch into the plywood" phenomenon be due to the burnishing / sanding of the joint? What flavor plywood and is it veneer core. MDF core or combo MDF and veneer core? Is the ply getting sanded differently than the solid wood? I personally tend to spend less time on ply than solid wood when sending.

Retarder will slow down drying of lacquer and perhaps let those bubbles pop and work themselves out.

[Craig D Peltier]

Hi Todd , thannks for the input. Yes the edges where the joints are do get sanded more.The core is usually armor core, so MDF then ply cores then mdf on the back under veneer. Sometimes its all ply core on birch ply.

I occasionally get bubbles too. I have seen them develop on a glued up panel on some boards and not others. I have attributed this to the temperature of the wood, the surrounding atmosphere temperature, the film coat thickness and the characteristics of the pores (openness) in the wood.

Could your "1 inch into the plywood" phenomenon be due to the burnishing / sanding of the joint? What flavor plywood and is it veneer core. MDF core or combo MDF and veneer core? Is the ply getting sanded differently than the solid wood? I personally tend to spend less time on ply than solid wood when sending.

Retarder will slow down drying of lacquer and perhaps let those bubbles pop and work themselves out.

[Sam Hamory]

Make sure to stir and not shake lacquer as it can create and hold onto bubbles which then end up on the product.

[Bob Wingard]

Make sure to stir and not shake lacquer as it can create and hold onto bubbles which then end up on the product.

I would think the act of spraying would disperse any bubbles that were formed after shaking. I've sprayed a good bit of lacquer, and I've never seen bubbles get through any of my guns.

[Scott Holmes]

Ditto. If you are getting bubbles when you spray, it's technique, equipment settings or viscosity that are causing it not bubbles in the finish.