I would like to know if this sounds like a reasonable approach. I'm
refinishing a kitchen table. It's perhaps an antique and appeared to
have lacquer on it previously, so I decided to do a lacquer finish.
Since it could be an antique, I didn't want to sand or otherwise
change the existing character, so I just sprayed on lacquer with a
little extra thinner and then sprayed some with lacquer and retarder.
I'm pretty happy with the resulting finish on the legs and sides of
the table. For the top, I'd like to fill in a few joints (crumbs are
always falling in) and achieve a slightly thicker finish. So, I
decided to pour on the lacquer. I did a little pouring into the
joints, letting it spill out over onto the table surface, but not run
off the top. It appears to have dried hard and I'm ready to pour some
more into the joints and over the whole top. Unfortunately, I haven't
been able to find anyone who's done this same approach. Am I going to
run into major problems? Is the whole top going to crack up at some
point? It seems like most people that have tried to produce a thicker
clear finish have used Envirotex or a marine epoxy. I didn't want to
do that because I want to be able to just spray with lacquer thinner
and get back to the wood if something doesn't work out. Thoughts?

JasonF wrote:
I would like to know if this sounds like a reasonable approach. I'm
refinishing a kitchen table. It's perhaps an antique and appeared to
have lacquer on it previously, so I decided to do a lacquer finish.
Since it could be an antique, I didn't want to sand or otherwise
change the existing character, so I just sprayed on lacquer with a
little extra thinner and then sprayed some with lacquer and retarder.
I'm pretty happy with the resulting finish on the legs and sides of
the table. For the top, I'd like to fill in a few joints (crumbs are
always falling in) and achieve a slightly thicker finish. So, I
decided to pour on the lacquer. I did a little pouring into the
joints, letting it spill out over onto the table surface, but not run
off the top. It appears to have dried hard and I'm ready to pour some
more into the joints and over the whole top. Unfortunately, I haven't
been able to find anyone who's done this same approach. Am I going to
run into major problems? Is the whole top going to crack up at some
point? It seems like most people that have tried to produce a thicker
clear finish have used Envirotex or a marine epoxy. I didn't want to
do that because I want to be able to just spray with lacquer thinner
and get back to the wood if something doesn't work out. Thoughts?

It is going to take a LOT of pouring to fill anything up, not a lot of
solids in lacquer. It will take a long time to thoroughly dry too...days
and days. However, it will work. I sometimes do the same thing and - once
it is dry (days and days) - use a razor blade to cut flat then spray all.

--

dadiOH
____________________________

dadiOH's dandies v3.06...
....a help file of info about MP3s, recording from
LP/cassette and tips & tricks on this and that.
Get it at http://mysite.verizon.net/xico

On Wed, 16 Apr 2008 12:00:22 -0700 (PDT), JasonF
wrote:

Am I going to
run into major problems? Is the whole top going to crack up at some
point?

Maybe.


---------------------------------------------
** http://www.bburke.com/woodworking.html **
---------------------------------------------

On Apr 16, 6:04 pm, B A R R Y wrote:

Am I going to
run into major problems? Is the whole top going to crack up at some
point?

Maybe.

Probably.

The thicker it gets, the more it will shrink. Since today's lacquers
are really pretty precision oriented, they are really made to be pore
or crack fillers.

It will shrink for at least a month. And if you pour additional stuff
on top after more than a few days, you will retard the outgassing of
the original coat(s) making your layers dry (yes, even though they
resolvate) at different speeds. And if you pour it on, think about
what you will do to solve your problems if you trap any moisture
underneath. This is a recipe for failure.

You might get away with it if you follow dadiOH's lead on this, but I
wouldn't do it with a piece I liked. Sounds like the horses have
already left the gate on this project, though.

Good luck!

Robert

I recently completed a similar thing on a table top using poly. I
wanted to fill the pores in red oak w/o having it end up looking
like formica. It turned out quite well and after a month there is
no sign of cracking in the finish.

After sealing and coloring with shellac I brushed on a thin coat of
poly. Next, using a bathroom squeegee, I removed as much of the
surface poly as I could. I found that swipes diagonal to the grain
worked best, otherwise the squeegee pulled poly out of the pores
too much.
After drying, a light sanding with stearated 220 and a good vacuuming
and it was ready for the next application. 3 coats filled the pores to my
satisfaction.

This technique may or may not work with lacquer depending on how
fast it is drying and how fast you are with the squeegee. I had no problem
with the poly drying too fast at 65°F ambient, but I'm not so sure if it will
work at 85°F.

Hope this helps.
Art

"JasonF" wrote in message
...
I would like to know if this sounds like a reasonable approach. I'm
refinishing a kitchen table. It's perhaps an antique and appeared to
have lacquer on it previously, so I decided to do a lacquer finish.
Since it could be an antique, I didn't want to sand or otherwise
change the existing character, so I just sprayed on lacquer with a
little extra thinner and then sprayed some with lacquer and retarder.
I'm pretty happy with the resulting finish on the legs and sides of
the table. For the top, I'd like to fill in a few joints (crumbs are
always falling in) and achieve a slightly thicker finish. So, I
decided to pour on the lacquer. I did a little pouring into the
joints, letting it spill out over onto the table surface, but not run
off the top. It appears to have dried hard and I'm ready to pour some
more into the joints and over the whole top. Unfortunately, I haven't
been able to find anyone who's done this same approach. Am I going to
run into major problems? Is the whole top going to crack up at some
point? It seems like most people that have tried to produce a thicker
clear finish have used Envirotex or a marine epoxy. I didn't want to
do that because I want to be able to just spray with lacquer thinner
and get back to the wood if something doesn't work out. Thoughts?