What the heck did I do??

[Joe McMahon]

I built five slant sided boxes for Christmas presents. The lid is a frame around a veneered panel. I took a 1/4" MDF panel that is 10" X 5" and veneered wood to both sides. I then put banding around one side of the veneer. I have never veneered or banded before, so this was a LOT of new territory. My wish was for the veneered panel to be well finished, smooth and glossy, inside of the semi-gloss frame.

To this end I used three applications of Waterlox, each 24 hours after the previous coat. (First time using Waterlox I then used Waterlox gloss Finish. unfortunately, i waited only 8 hours before I started to build the frames for the panels. When the frames were finished the next day, I glued the panels into their respective frames. I then looked more closely at the panels, and four of the five were "rough". I assume that I contaminated the surface with sawdust.

Undaunted, I got some 1500 W/D sand paper and after a few drops of water, I rubbed them out. This was followed by 2500 W/D with a few drops of water. The surface was now smooth but quite dull. Short on time and being stupid, I just sprayed the panels with Deft gloss lacquer to get the shine back. A half hour later I returned to re-coat the lacquer. It was then that I noticed "splotches on three of them. The splotches looked silver. What had I done??? Possibly they weren't fully dry and I trapped some water? I tried sanding with 1500 but it didn't remove the splotches as you could clearly see the outline of the splotches.

Now what can I do other than sand back and hope I don't sand through the thin veneer?

[John TenEyck]

I'll leave it to others as to what happened, but I think your best option for resolution is to strip everything off and start over. KleanStrip Premium will take off what you have very quickly. You can neutralize it afterwards with MS or Naptha and then start to build a new finish as soon as that has dried. If you want to use a wipe on finish that cures more quickly, I recommend Arm-R-Seal. If you want quick and easy it's hard to beat dewaxed shellac (Sealcoat) followed by spray lacquer, or just lacquer.

John

[Steve Schoene]

The problem is trying to use lacquer over varnish. The solvents in lacquer are strong and can damage varnish finishes. The splotches are the damaged varnish and can't be fixed.

At this point stripping off the finishes, down to bare wood is your best option--really your only option.

You can use Waterlox again, and use it to obtain a gloss finish. You might as well start with the Waterlox Gloss. There is no particular reason, except adding revenue to the Waterlox coffers, to start with the Sealer/Finish and then transition to the Gloss. It should take about 3 coats, sanded lightly in between each with 320 grit. After the final coat, let it cure for several weeks--it would really be better to wait a month. Then you can start a rubbing out process that will first get rid of the dust nibs, and then work the gloss back to a high shine. I'd start with 600 grit to level and remove dust. Then I'd jump to 1200 grit, and for a final sanding I'd use the 2500 grit as before. Then shift to a polishing compound to rub to gloss. For highest gloss, follow the polishing compound with "swirl remover".

[Jim Becker]

Unfortunately, you put lacquer over an oil based varnish product and there probably was a reaction. The solvents in lacquer like the Deft are not compatible with oil based varnish and most other finishes. I think you're going to have to do as Steve mentions...sand back carefully and start over.