LumberJocks Woodworking Forum banner

can I french polish on a lacquer base ?

8K views 3 replies 3 participants last post by  Karson 
#1 · (Edited by Moderator)
My question is the title: can I french polish on a lacquer base? I have a lacquer finished box, but would like a better finish - - so I am thinking - - french polishing - but can I use the shellac and alcohol over the lacquer without the lacquer "melting"? Or do I need to remove the lacquer and start over? or can I get a better finish on the lacquer?

The box is extremely smooth (almost reflective) but has minute crazing. its over a walnut burl veneer, and I have maybe 8 coats of base with sanding progressively from 320 up to 800 as I built up the base, - - so perhaps the answer is simply more lacquer and more cutting back?
 
#4 · (Edited by Moderator)
Dave: Yes you can french polish over lacquer. The alcohol should not have any impact on the prior finish.

One trick that I've found in covering up small voids is I've sprayed shellac until You've got a good base and then wet sand it with oil. (I use baby oil) and get it smooth and then do the final coats of french polish. That's a lot easier than doing 100 sessions of french polish to build up a good base. If I've got a real void I may just drip a blob over the void and then sand it down to rest of the surface and then finish with french polish.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top