How to Fix a Lacquer End
Lacquer can be a very forgiving end material, and if you know its characteristics, fixing damage to some lacquered surface could be simple. Lacquer is essentially cellulose dissolved into a solvent. A lacquer surface coating hardens when the solvent evaporates, and employing more solvent will soften it again. This very simple fact enables you to use approaches that would be impossible using a cured end like varnish or polyurethane. Not many lacquer repair techniques include sanding, and the ones that do usually also involve spraying longer material. Only one extreme flaw calls for stripping off the wood and spraying on a new end.
Spray a wet coat of pure lacquer thinner onto a surface that has cracks, orange peel or roughness. The thinner will emulsify the surface and the flaws should disappear when it hardens again. You can get exactly the very same results by spraying on a full wet coat of thinned-down lacquer.
Add a retarding agent to the thinner to correct blushing, a state at which trapped moisture causes the lacquer to turn muddy. The retardant slows the evaporation of this thinner, giving the moisture time to escape until the surface hardens.
Bleed the air lines of this spray gun and wipe moisture out of the tip if the end surface develops pin holes. They are brought on by water and should disappear after recoating using moisture-free material.
Turn the strain of the spray gun and cool the surface or move it in the shade if the end develops bubbles. They can be caused by heat or from excessive spray pressure. If turning the pressure doesn’t help and you can not decrease the ambient temperature, wait for a cooler day to recoat.
Sand sags and operates using 220-grit wet/dry sandpaper compacted using a little water after the end has hardened. Scrub the surface with a cone and recoat it with lacquer, thinning the material as little as possible. Sags are normally caused by spraying with lacquer that’s too thin, but they might also be the result of spraying a coat that is too thick. Spray less material when you recoat.
Strip the end if it develops craters or it separates. This flaw is caused by silicone in the wood. Wipe the wood down with lacquer thinner or naptha until you spray it again. Add a flowing broker to the lacquer to help it level out.