# Spraying lacquer over lacquered cabinets



## sawedoff (Oct 10, 2011)

Helping a friend out. He has a cherry stain on his cabinets with what I believe to be a laquer clear coat on it. He is wanting to spray a walnut color stain on it. Here's my question. Can we spray a tinted lacquer over the existing finish? We were planning on wiping them down with a denatured alcohol to clean them. The plan was to do two coats of color and 2 coat of clear.

Will this work or do we have to strip the finish off?

Thanks in advance


----------



## CharlesNeil (Oct 21, 2007)

Yep shouldnt be an issue, just be sure to clean them well, first , I prefer naphtha, apply a good wet coat, wipe off with a clean cloth, then repeat, alcohol dries a little too fast for me to get on and off.


----------



## HerbC (Jul 28, 2010)

First verify that the existing topcoat is lacquer. Rub an inconspicuous spot with a cloth dampened with lacquer thinner. If the thinner desolves the existing finish then it is lacquer and you should be able to recoat with lacquer after cleaning the surfaces well as CharlesNeil indicated. If it's not lacquer you can probably get away with using a coat of dewaxed shellac as a sealcoat that will allow the new lacquer adhere to the surface.

Good Luck!

Be Careful!

Herb


----------



## pintodeluxe (Sep 12, 2010)

It is a big job, but I have done it. Tinting has its share of headaches, and is probably the most difficult spray finishing technique to get right. For example, if you get a run or sag in the finish, the color will be concentrated there.

I sprayed two coats to go from honey oak to a medium brown color. I didn't do a clear topcoat, and have had no durability issues. I would say choose a satin sheen lacquer, as the gloss really builds up with multiple coats.

Here are pictures and more info if you're interested…
http://lumberjocks.com/projects/63811

Good luck!


----------



## 000 (Dec 9, 2015)

Inside corners are the hardest. Devise a plan to get the corners first (both sides) then spray the field carefully blending into the corner, but not double overlapping the first coat.


----------

