Replies

1. 
   RLMillard | May 08, 2002 02:29am | #1

   I think for a project like you are doing, padding lacquer would be a great finish. Padding lacquer is a substitute for French polish, which is considered the pinnacle of finishes. It is fairly easy to use, and is a little more durable than straight shellac. If you are using an open grained wood, then you will have to fill the grain to achieve that absolute glass smooth surface associated with top end furniture. I’ll kill two birds with one stone here, and say that full mortise locks, look better (to me) but they are a little more work to install

1. 
   erich | May 09, 2002 04:43pm | #2

   Rob,

        Thanks for the suggestion of padding lacquer for my humidors.  I've been reading up on it and it sounds great.  Do you have a favorite?  I've read one person's opinion that Lacover 30 is a good choice as it has few additives and oils in addition to the shellac.  They reported that it is kind of a "What you see is what you get" product, which they liked instead of getting tricked into seeing a gloss finish when it was really just oil from the product.  Also, I plan on looking into this too, but would you suggest a shellac sanding sealer, as my veneer (Zebrawood and Pau Ferro), seems to be fairly open grained.  Again, thanks for the reply.

                                                                               Erich

1. 
   RLMillard | May 10, 2002 03:01am | #3

   Erich,

   The only brand I have used is the Behlen Qualasole. It works very well, but it stinks, so wear a mask. There was an article on using it in the May/June 1996 issue of FWW, and Jeff Jewitt has a section on using it in his Hand Applied Finishes book. I use super blonde shellac from flakes to build up finishes and fill pores on objects other than table tops, when grain filler won't work.