Dear Peter,
I am near completion of a very large bed/play palace for my daughter. It is constructed out of mostly douglas fir. I am sanding and filling in the dings with water putty now. I’d like to finish it to match the color of an antiqued white dresser she already has, and because of the bed’s large size I’d like to spray the finish. Since the finish needs to be durable, I was planning to try to find some colored lacquer.
Can you recommend any particular brands of lacquer that would be suitable for this project? I would prefer water based if possible. Also, should I use a sealer? How does one get an antiqued effect, and how can I match the color? I’d like to get it as close as possible. This is my first time spraying with laquer so I’d appreciate any other advice… I’d be open to using other types of spray finishes as well.
Many thanks for your help…
Richard
Replies
Richard,
Picking this size project for your first foray into spraying lacquer can be challenging and or disastrous. Take some time and read some finishing techniques concerning spraying first.
If you have a Sherwin Williams store around you might try them for lacquer. Not all the retail stores carry lacquer but they will be able to direct you to their nearest professional supplier They also have a great publication on spraying techniques that will be helpful.
A water based lacquer by Oxford is available although I can't give you any direct feedback because I don't use it. If you do use a water lacquer be sure and clean your gun immediately upon completion.
I always seal a surface before applying topcoats. In your case a white sealer would be preferable.
On a white surface I would use a glaze to "antique" the surface. A glaze by definition is a translucent film of color over a sealed surface. You can thin a gel stain down for this or you can use a glaze like behlens that is available through various catalogs. Use your model to halp guide you on where the galze color should be applied.
Unfortunately there is no way for me to tell you how to get an exact match. For that I would need the piece in front of me.
I would also consider hand painting the bed. You can use oil or latex as desired. You can also spray these coatings although you would need a larger tip and needle for the thicker viscosity.
There was an excellent article within the last year in FWW on getting a great paint job by hand. You might want to find it as it had some great tips in it.
If you do decide lacquer is your finish of choice, practice on some fairly large sample pieces. Better to make your mistakes there than on the bed. Also, READ some articles and some of the finishing books as well as those on faux finishing. You will pick up some invaluable tips along the way. You can find these in the your local library.
Peter Gedrys
Thank you very much for your response. I know that some paint stores have color analyzers, where you bring in a sample and they mix the color for you. Can this be done with solvent or water based laquers too? - the white color of the dresser I'm trying to match seems to have a bit of yellow in it... thanks again...
The paint store can analyze any color for you. They will also want to sell you the paint to match.
I'm sure if you find a lacquer supplier like Sherwin Williams they can do the same.
White that has a yellow tinge has had a bright yellow like chrome or cadmium yellow added in very small amounts to make it a "glowing white"Good luck.
PG
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