I’m trying to build a shellac finish to polish to gloss. I’m spraying a relatively thin mix (1.7 pound cut). I’m sanding between coats to try to keep everything nice and level and remove the little bit of orange peel I’m getting, but I feel like I’m sanding off everything I put on. Since shellac burns in to the prior coat and I don’t need to sand for adhesion, should I sand less, or stop sanding between every coat? Maybe every other coat?
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Replies
Sanding the first coat to remove raised grain isn't a bad idea but after that build a monolithic finish. Each cost dissolves into and builds on previous coats.
Sanding between coats slows down the build-up process
As you said since sanding is not required for good adhesion between coats so doing it simply slows down the build-up process. You don't need to keep everything nice and level every coat. Just keep spraying until you have enough of a build up to rub/polish it without going through the shellac layer.
I did this procedure on the top of this table (http://lumberjocks.com/projects/34497). I started with 4 coats of a 3 lb cut of shellac. The rubbing process started with 320 grit to get rid of orange peel. Then 600 grit then Micro Mesh abrasive disks (http://www.leevalley.com/en/wood/page.aspx?p=62146&cat=1,42500 ) up to 12000. I used water as the lubricant.
Hope this helps,
Senomozi
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