Folks,
I have been using shellac for a few years and never had problems. I am trying to seal a big dinning room table with about 1.5 lb cut of dewaxed blond. I am using a rubber. I am using big long strokes down the grain.
I keep getting long linear marks in the finish where I have overlapped a little or left a space between passes. I really don’t want to start doing little circles as I think this will turn into a french polish on a huge scale. I rubbed it down with 400 grit and steel wool about 2 coats ago. It helped a little. I am about ready to wipe it all of with some etoh. Any other ideas?
I was going to pad thinned urethane over this, but I am afraid I’ll just magnify all my problems.
Thanks
Frank
Replies
Hello BISCARDI,
What type of wood is the table made of?
Havce you tried rubbing out with 0000 steel wool? Sometimes it takes a couple of coats to build finish and fill pores in order to avoid lap marks.
I usually start with a 1 lb cut and then work up to a 2 lb cut. I usually rub out between coats with 0000 steel wool.
It is rather tricky trying to rub out without rubbing through layers of finish ,especially on large flat surfaces.
However shellac is rather friendly and can be removed easily with denatured alcohol or household ammonia.
I would try to fill the pores with the 1.5 lb cut of shellac and remove the lap marks with some seel wool or 600 grit sand paper(you will probably have to use soapy water as a lubricant). It may take a few(3) coats before you are satisfied with the coverage.
As you progress the lap marks should diminish and then the top will be filled and ready for your topcoat.
I generally use a large 3" badger hair brush for such big applications and make sure that I maintain a wet edge when overlapping brushstrokes.
J.P.
Fine Woodworking, issue # 171, August of this year has a, supposedly, easy method of finishing table tops with wiped on poly. The author doesn't start with shellac and it wouldn't seem to be needed in many applications.
John W.
I have found that padding a large surface can be a challenge. The time it takes to make a complete wipe of the length allows the shellac to dry. Then when you go to wipe the adjacent and overlapping area with the next wipe, you are redessolving the shellac. This leaves the streaks and ridges.
I don't do large surfaces by padding shellac anymore.
Howie, I think you are right. I did a big desk top but had to do more of a true french polish with circular movements. I think I'm going to try to rub most of it off , get it flat and then put on the thinned poly. Now I know why the pros spray lacquer.
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