The Golden State: Where & How to Live, Secure, Visit, Enjoy and Thrive in California
Furniture Finishing
If the paper clogs up it is a sign that you are sanding a green surface, or else you are putting too much pressure on the paper, and the heat from the friction thus caused will melt the finish and clog the paper. When the paper refuses to cut, or has become too clogged with material, it is time to select another eighth-sheet and start anew. Do not wet the paper, as the glue size will dissolve and the grit will move off the paper.
The same method can be used for surfacing any enamel undercoat, lacquer enamel or japan coating. Steel wool may be used to advantage on all these surfaces where it is hard to operate with a stiff finishing paper. This applies to turned surfaces, flutes, grilles and carvings. Rub lightly and carefully with steel wool and have a pad with an even surface. This product cuts through edges just as quickly as the paper, so keep away.
Second Coat-Materials-Selection
IT IS difficult to lay a hard and fast rule for the selection of second coat materials. So many different combinations can be made by using a coat much different from the first one, and of course the same material can always be used. By naming the most important combination, we can get some idea of the number of different combinations that can be made with this coat. Use the shellac varnish, for example. The same shellac can be used for a second coat, and it was often done by manufacturers who believed that this would give them the least trouble. Of course shellac has a low melting point, and is not waterproof, and it would seem to be inferior to lacquer finish in these two points, if not in others.
VARNISH OR LACQUER OVER SHELLAC
Lacquer can be applied over shellac with a perfect knitting coat as the lacquer will dissolve the shellac to a certain extent before drying. Oil varnish or the cabinet rubbing varnishes can be used over shellac, and this combination was the principal one for years. Factories and shops in many places retain this method of flowing a rubbing varnish over a first coat of shellac, which is very thin.
The shellac seems to give a good coating under a second coat of lacquer for the reason that the shellac does not soften quite as quickly as a first coat of pure lacquer, and makes a better filler for the wood, allowing a better and heavier film of the second coat. Any spirit varnishes or lacquers, as well as any oil varnishes or enamels, can be used over a thin coating of shellac with good results. Varnish does not knit well over shellac, so it should not be applied over a heavy shellac coating.
