Pinging Steve Schoene and/or Howard Acheson:
Gentlemen, I am installing interior doors that are cherry veneered. In a prior post i read in the archives Steve mentioned wiping cherry with BLO and then coating with orange garnet shellac, but the issue of what topcoat was left unresolved.
2 of these are for bathrooms and 2 are for bedrooms, but eventually i hope to change out all the doors in the house. i will have the ability (ok, the equipment . . . but i hope to acquire the skill too) to spray if that influences the recommendations.
since the doors are veneer rather than solid cherry, does that impact the recommendation for BLO to pop and then shellac? If i end up spraying, would a lacquer be best? I posted this over on SMC yesterday but got no responses, thus my reaching out to Howie and Steve.
Thank you, Patrick McCarthy
Replies
At this point my choice would be to wipe on a couple of coats of a thinned satin wiping varnish. Make your own by thinning a good non-poly varnish 50/50 with mineral spirits. Look for Pratt and Lambert 38 or Sherwin Williams varnish. Start by very lightly scuff sanding with 320 paper mounted on a felt or rubber suffaced sanding block.
Here is the wiping process. Practice it on some prepared scrap before using it on your real stuff.
http://www.hardwoodlumberandmore.com/Articles/ArticleViewPage/tabid/75/ArticleId/5/Wipe-on-Varnish.aspx
At a later date (wait at least a year for the oil based finish to fully cure) you can again scuff sand the surface with 320 paper and spray on a coat of lacquer although lacquer is not as durable as an oil based varnish. There is no need to spray the doors unless the varnish finish somehow deteriorates. This is unlikely.
blo
will enhance the colour of the wood if used as the first coat. apply one coat and wipe dry
ron
There will be very very little visible difference from the grain enhancement from BLO compared to that from an oil based wiping varnish. Garnet shellac will add color that you wouldn't get from either oil or wiping varnish. It could be applied over either. For the top coat, and to get to a satin finish, oil based wiping varnish will work just fine.
I can't really see any reason to apply lacquer over that, especially since you do have to wait for FULL cure, and even then run a bit of risk that solvents in lacquer could cause oil based varnish to lift or wrinkle.
I see no reason to use anything other than ordinary paint thinner, as long as it isn't the waterbased nonsense solid as being green. (This is a milky white emulsion, that might clean brushes, but that I would not want to use to thin varnish.) Ordinary thinner would be ok in this instance since you don't really need strong solvent power so much as just a compatible thinner. There would be sufficient solvent power in the varnish off the shelf that you need not add more.
There will be very very little visible difference from the grain enhancement from BLO compared to that from an oil based wiping varnish. Garnet shellac will add color that you wouldn't get from either oil or wiping varnish. It could be applied over either. For the top coat, and to get to a satin finish, oil based wiping varnish will work just fine.
I can't really see any reason to apply lacquer over that, especially since you do have to wait for FULL cure, and even then run a bit of risk that solvents in lacquer could cause oil based varnish to lift or wrinkle.
I see no reason to use anything other than ordinary paint thinner, as long as it isn't the waterbased nonsense solid as being green. (This is a milky white emulsion, that might clean brushes, but that I would not want to use to thin varnish.) Ordinary thinner would be ok in this instance since you don't really need strong solvent power so much as just a compatible thinner. There would be sufficient solvent power in the varnish off the shelf that you need not add more.
Good morning Steve and Howie, thank you very much for your input. I stopped and got some P&L 38 on my way into work this morning. I will let you know how it all works out.
Very appreciative, Patrick
the reason for bringing up blo
is most will more than likely use a urethane varnish rather than an oil base and on cherry the blo will bring the colour up
ron
You could try just the thinned varnish alone on some scrap and see if you like how it looks. The linseed oil used to make varnish will have some of the look of BLO. Personally, I mostly use the BLO followed by a garnet or amber shellac then apply 2-3 coats of thinned wiping varnish. If the item will get abused--every day kitchen table, entry way table--I will apply 2-3 more coats of wiping varnish.
As Steve said, standard mineral spirits is the best choice for thinning your varnish. Stay away from turpentine. It's smelly and tends to be quite variable in quality. The thinner used with have no affect on a varnish being "stronger". I've never seen or heard of that claim. The thinner totally evaporates so none of it is left on the surface as part of the final finish.
Veneer
The most important thing to remember when working with interior doors that are veneer is
SA
>>>> "The most important
>>>> "The most important thing to remember when working with interior doors that are veneer is"
Was there supposed to be more?
depends on ingredients
whether it is blo based or tung. tung oil will not do as blo does
ron
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