Ok, I decided to give the WR4000 stain a try. After talking to Jeff at Target Coatings, I believe I’m applying the stain correctly. I let it dry for more than the recommended 2 hours. Then with my first attempt, I used the EM1000 sealer starting with a very light coat followed by 2 progressively heavier coats following the recommended dry times. Then I top coated with EM6000 (their WB lacquer) in Satin. The finish started almost flaking after the final coat. The second try I used two light coats of Sealcoat that were thinned 1:1 with DA ice the stain. I let those dry overnight and then applied 3 coats of EM6000 in gloss and the final coat in satin. I ended up with the same issue. I should have done test pieces but didn’t. Lesson learned! I also typically use their varnish and WB shellac but the prices are very high for those which is why I switched.

So now the big question is why is the finish failing? I’m doing a bunch of test pieces now where the base is the WR4000 stain vs tinted denatured alcohol. There are two things I can think of. Either the stain isn’t completely drying or maybe the can of satin lacquer is bad. The gloss seemed ok before I topped it with satin. I’m testing all that too. Anyone have any ideas on what could be going on? I’d really like this stain to work as I refinish a lot of furniture and can’t have the dry times of oil based stain. Also, spraying tinted denatured alcohol doesn’t always work as it doesn’t get into cracks and detail very well.

I took a pic too but not sure how to paste it on here.

Once my test pieces are done I hope to narrow down the issue and then will give Jeff a call back unless one of you all know what I’m doing wrong.

Thanks in advance!