Blew thru Lacquer Finish

[brnhornt]

Hi gang....I'm trying my first ever sprayed lacquer finish.  Trying to get it up to a high gloss finish.  

Here's a shot of one side after spraying.  I sprayed this a few months ago to give it plenty of time to cure:

   

Here's a shot of it flattened with 180:

   

Last is the mistake.  I must not have built up as much finish on this edge, or I was just too aggressive...but I noticed I burned thru after wet sanding up at 800:

   

My plan was to hand wet sand (with a pad) up to 3000, and then finish it off with a polishing compound. 

But what's the best way to deal with my mistake?  I'm guessing I'm looking at a rattle can of lacquer and starting over.  Or do I continue carefully with the other three sides (and top) to see if I can be successful and then come back to this one side to re-spray it, and then start around 220+ rather than the 180 (since it's already flat?)

Thanks for any ideas and help!
Kevin

[Stwood_]

Just respray that one side. Lacquer burns into itself.
Ease up on the material. That first pic shows to much material has been laid down.

[Rob Young]

Just respray that one side. Lacquer burns into itself.
Ease up on the material. That first pic shows to much material has been laid down.

Small note, "real" lacquer burns into itself. The stuff that is water borne and labeled as "lacquer", isn't.  It has to be the solvent based stuff, the kind that will give you a massive headache after the contact-high wears off...

[Stwood_]

Small note, "real" lacquer burns into itself. The stuff that is water borne and labeled as "lacquer", isn't.  It has to be the solvent based stuff, the kind that will give you a massive headache after the contact-high wears off...

Yes, correct. He said lacquer, so assume the real stuff.

And, my preferences, I have always and will always spray the real stuff.

Waterbase is for snowflakes??
 

[hbmcc]

Yes, correct. He said lacquer, so assume the real stuff.

And, my preferences, I have always and will always spray the real stuff.

Waterbase is for snowflakes??
 

Yup! One of those glue sniffers from the 1950s. 


I just crawled into the carcases and slapped the stuff on with a brush. Deft brand. Far better than poly and almost as easy as shellac. I see it at my local Ace.

Isn't lacquer (nitro?) a soft finish? And what about spilling highballs on the stuff?

[jteneyck]

Hi gang....I'm trying my first ever sprayed lacquer finish.  Trying to get it up to a high gloss finish.  

Here's a shot of one side after spraying.  I sprayed this a few months ago to give it plenty of time to cure:


Here's a shot of it flattened with 180:


Last is the mistake.  I must not have built up as much finish on this edge, or I was just too aggressive...but I noticed I burned thru after wet sanding up at 800:


My plan was to hand wet sand (with a pad) up to 3000, and then finish it off with a polishing compound. 

But what's the best way to deal with my mistake?  I'm guessing I'm looking at a rattle can of lacquer and starting over.  Or do I continue carefully with the other three sides (and top) to see if I can be successful and then come back to this one side to re-spray it, and then start around 220+ rather than the 180 (since it's already flat?)

Thanks for any ideas and help!
Kevin

As was said, spray lighter, thinner coats.  Then start with 400 or 600 wet/dry sandpaper, or even 800.  Sand by hand with the paper on a hard rubber or felt block.  I use soapy water for lube.  Stop every minute or so, wipe off the surface, and check to measure progress.  Stop the second you see scratches everywhere on the surface, and move on to the next grit.  I typically only go up to 2000 grit and then switch to automotive polishing compound.  

Alternatively, learn to spray well enough that you don't need to finish the finish, or at least all you need is polishing compound.  It's not that hard to get an off the gun surface that satisfies most any requirement short of piano quality.  

John

[brnhornt]

Thanks for the replies everyone.  Yes, I know that I laid it on very thick.  I figured since it was my first time spraying any finish, having more there for me to use to flatten was better than not having enough.  Especially since everything I was reading was saying that I needed to let it cure for a month before trying to polish it up.  I didn't want to spray thin, wait a month, find I needed more, and be forced to wait yet another month after adding.  Clearly I didn't get unified coverage all over...that and clearly starting at 180 grit was too aggressive.

This was the real stuff...not water based.  So I'll look for a rattle can of solvent based and spray a few coats onto this one side...and then start at 800 and keep moving forward.

Thanks again!

[Kansas City Fireslayer]

Seems you’ve gotten some good advice so far. One thing to keep in mind is most solvent based lacquers have a wet and dry millimeter thickness recommendation. I know you’re sanding back but keep in mind lacquer can be prone to cracking if applied too thick. Catalyzed lacquers more so than the softer nitrocellulose.

[Rob Young]

Yup! One of those glue sniffers from the 1950s. 


I just crawled into the carcases and slapped the stuff on with a brush. Deft brand. Far better than poly and almost as easy as shellac. I see it at my local Ace.

Isn't lacquer (nitro?) a soft finish? And what about spilling highballs on the stuff?

Seems you’ve gotten some good advice so far.  One thing to keep in mind is most solvent based lacquers have a wet and dry millimeter thickness recommendation.  I know you’re sanding back but keep in mind lacquer can be prone to cracking if applied too thick.  Catalyzed lacquers more so than the softer nitrocellulose.

You can get wet gauges from a good paint store. But it took me a while to convince the local S-W store about what I wanted. Finally they went digging through a desk drawer and came up with a bundle of them. I took 2...