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Coloring Finishing And Painting Wood
Very fine pumice-stone should be used for rubbing. A finisher can do a lacquer rubbing-job successfully with either the water or the oil process. Very fine pumice-stone is preferable, especially for rubbing with water. Coarse pumice-stone is liable to scratch a surface, and leave a grayish residue of pumice-stone in the abrasions left by the grit or cutting material. The rubbing should be done lengthwise of the grain, using a felt pad, and proceeding as in rubbing a varnished article. A rubbed surface should always be cleaned with a rag dampened with benzine or other similar liquid which is not a good solvent for lacquers.
Polishing a lacquered finish which has been rubbed produces a finer luster. Polishing can be done by a method similar to that used on varnish. Rottenstone and water are often rubbed over a lacquered surface, and a fine gloss is obtained with a mechanical buffer or a fine polishing-pad.
258. Flat Lacquers and Waxed Lacquer-Finishes.—It has been discovered that lacquers can be "flatted" or dulled.in the manufacturing process by a method somewhat similar to that used in making flat varnishes. The addition of aluminum stearate to the lacquer in compounding it dulls the gloss of the film made from it, and gives it much the appearance of flat-varnish finishes. In use, one should always apply flat lacquers over flat lacquers, because glosslacquer undercoats are apt to show thru in spots.
Very attractive wax-finishes may be made over surfaces that have been covered with coats of ordinary gloss lacquer. The foundation or undercoats for wax may be a coat of shellac, sanded, and covered with one or two coats of lacquer. Before applying the wax, however, it should be remembered that oil rubbing with fine pumice-stone will produce a surface that is smooth and properly prepared to receive a high polish. Two undercoats of lacquer are greatly superior to two coats of shellac; because lacquer-coatings do not scratch easily or deeply; because they are much more water-proof than shellac, which can be washed off in cleaning with an alkali soap in water; and because of the fact that lacquer films do not print or become sticky in hot weather and, in general, are very heat resisting.
259. Mixture of Shellac and Lacquer.—An excellent water-proof shellac can be made by preparing a mixture of about one part of lacquer with three or four parts of shellac-varnish. Various proportions and strengths of the two ingredients can be used. The best results are obtained by pouring the lacquer into the container first, and then slowly adding the shellac-varnish, gradually blending the two by thoro stirring.
Water-proof shellac is an excellent finish for many purposes, and can be applied with a brush or with a spray-gun. Mixtures of shellac and lacquer do not keep well, and are not often sold on the market for this reason. They will remain in good condition in a liquid mixture for several days, but must always be thoroly stirred before use, because the two ingredients—lacquer and shellac—seem to separate.
