Rattle Can Woes - How can I fix this?

Renners,
What type finish do you have on it now? There’s a couple ways to fix the problem, but I would not recommend starting over by stripping. (MDF).........If you meant stripping by sanding, that would be OK, but not using a paint stripper. I would lightly sand the entire project and sand out the bad area totally. The paint reacted to something on the MDF so you want to try to sand that out if possible. I would recommend using a spray shellac to reseal the entire surface and then recoat with your black. Shellac usually does a great job sealing out any contaminates in the surface and you can recoat with most any topcoat. Good luck.
BTW. I really like the design, nice work.

-- John @ http://www.thehuffordfurnituregroup.com

Thanks Huff,

I used a black ‘synthetic enamel’ in a spray can – over a waterborne mdf primer sanded to p240. It was all looking silky smooth until I went over it with the acid catalysed satin lacquer – which is when this small problem area showed up.

I think it’s more likely that the black enamel wasn’t fully cured under the lacquer than the surface was contaminated by anything. 99% of the job looked really good with the lacquer on, its just this one part of it, where it probably had more paint laid down on it.

I’ll try the shellac to seal as your recommendation – it’s not something I’ve used much as you don’t see it over here.

Thanks again

Leave it alone and hope the boss doesn’t notice?

Glue a mouse pad over it and tell her that’s where the remote goes?

I’m a lazy man in search of lazy solutions. :-)

-- Charlie M. "Woodworking - patience = firewood"

Renner’s, You may be right about the black enamel wasn’t fully cured under the lacquer. If that’s the case, you can sand out the problem and repeat the process without trying to find a shellac. Allow extra time between the enamel and the lacquer and that should solve the problem. Another trick that works when putting lacquer over another finish, since lacquer burns in as it dries, would be to make sure you spray the first coat or two of lacquer on very lightly. The heavier the coat of lacquer the more time it has to burn into the finish below and in this case may create a blemish. As the coats of lacquer build, it will burn into itself instead of the enamel and you can spray a heavier coat on for the final finish. Hope I didn’t confuse you too much. Let me know if you have any questions.

-- John @ http://www.thehuffordfurnituregroup.com

Charlie, I thought about a big doily, the kind like my Granny used to have under her cactus on top of the telly

Your grandma too, huh? That’ll work.

-- Charlie M. "Woodworking - patience = firewood"

Scuff sand the entire project lightly, strip sand the bad area, prime, wait for the primer to cure, paint, same thing, feather it in, when you are satisfied with the paint and it has FULLY cured, apply a urethane clear coat / gloss or clear gloss spray lacquer of some sort over the entire project.

-- My workshop blog can be found at http://daves-workshop.blogspot.com