Michael Dresdner

Q: I turned Christmas ornaments of cherry wood. On one small spot about the size of a quarter, I can not get lacquer to stick to the wood. I did not get glue or oil of any kind on the wood. I used acetone to wipe down the ornament before I started spraying.
A: That may well be the problem. Cherry contains pockets of pitch. Normally, they are not a big issue, but if large enough, they can leave a soft spot under lacquer. Usually they are the size of the end of a pencil lead. However, by wiping with acetone, a solvent for the pitch, you may be spreading it over a wider area. Here’s what to do: sand the ornament first with 320 or 400 grit paper, moving up to whatever grit of paper you choose as your final sanding. Seal it with a couple of coats of dewaxed shellac or Zinsser SealCoat prior to the lacquer. When you do spray lacquer, make sure your first coats are not too wet, since you don’t want to dissolve all the shellac and open up the pitch issue again.

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This entry was posted on Friday, January 8th, 2010 at 9:00 am and is filed under clear coat, compatibility, finishing techniques, lacquer, seal, shellac, woodturning. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.