I'm finishing up a walnut entertainment cabinet. I first used water-based dye, then sealed with shellac. I then glazed with gel stain. At this stage it looked great! The top coat is where it went bad. I know it's operator error. I used Sherwood precat Hi-bild gloss laquer. Sprayed with fuji HVLP. At first it looked great but after 2 coats and close inspection it has a subtle orange peel. I have already started sanding it down with 400 grit and despite being careful I have sanded thru some of the gel stain and probably dye. My plan now is to sand the entire project down with 120 grit on a random orbit sander, then hand sand with 150 grit trying to remove as much finish as possible. I suspect there will be varying levels of lacquer remaining especially in the pores since I did not use a filler. So my question is:
1. Can I go from the 150 step to dye/shellac/gel stain/then top coat (Planning on a wipe op poly - I'm not good enough with the gun.
2. After the 150 sanding, should I shellac 1st for better adhesion over any laquer that my be remaining, then dye/shellac/gel stain/wipe on poly. I assume with this route the dye won't penetrate well because of the shellac.
Thanks in advance for any advice!
Tom