It’s been a long time but I seem to remember finishing the interior of a chest with furniture grade lacquer (this was before pre-cat) and then immediately installing an unfinished aromatic cedar bottom. The old rush to meet a deadline, sigh….
The client called in about a week to say the interior finish was “tacky”… I think I stripped it and resprayed and allowed it to dry for a few days before putting the cedar back in?
Anyone else had any similar problems ??
Replies
Maybe I am missing something. Are the interior sides aromatic cedar?
By the way, I took a look a your site. Nice work!
Thanks....
No, the bottom is cedar over ply. The sides are wood. This was quite a while ago but what I think happened was the fumes and/or oils from the cedar affected the proper curing of the lacquer. Keep in mind the top was installed as soon as I could safely touch the lacquer so it was still off gassing thinners.
Make any sense?Don Kondra - Furniture Designer/Maker
I don't know enough about cedar to know if the fumes or oils could affect the finish. I agree with you that the top being closed immediately, and probably not opened that often, would have some bearing on what happened. Sorry I wasn't any help.
I don't have the definitive answer, either. Just chiming in to ditto the comment that it could well have been the enclosed space with nowhere to offgas the solvents that caused the tackiness. In fact, I would be inclined to blame that first. Still... maybe Jon Arno could chime in here as he probably knows more about the oils in aromatic cedar. All I can say is that I've not had a problem with any lacquered cedar drying properly.
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I remember an article from several years ago that described this problem. Turns out that the gasses from aromatic cedar contain some of the same chemicals as paint stripper, so (as I recall) the solution was to use shellac as the finish that was least impacted by those chemicals.
I saved the entire article or extensive notes from it. Lots of good information. But I can't find it. IF I run across the article or notes, I will post again, but..... Sorry!
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Charlie Plesums Austin, Texas
http://www.plesums.com/wood
It's a pretty good idea to use shellac or no finish at all inside drawers.
The plasticisers in many kinds of elastics and other plastics used in clothing have been known to migrate into lacquer and make a sticky mess.
This is personal experience, not rumor.
Michael R.
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