Brushing lacquer?

[Mike Schueler]

I am making a cherry coffee table and doing some preliminary finishing on the wood before it's all put together.

I am starting the linseed oil (no stain), then shellac on top of that. I plan to use something stonger over the shellac, but not sure what. At first I was going to use a varnish -- not sure what varnish yet, and I don't mind suggestions.

However, I know that generally you guys (and Flexner in his book, which sits in glory on the can for continual re-reading) say that lacquer works best overall for depth, ease of rubbing out, and repair. However, I don't have spray equipment and don't plan to get any. I saw some brush lacquer made by cabot today at the Lowes nearby; it says it dries to touch in 30 minutes, which is slower than shellac and I think might work.

Anyone have advice for varnish vs brush lacquer or any experience with this?

Thanks.


(PS -- I live in Florida, and my shop is an unheated/non air conditioned garage. Although temperate now, it can get over 90 degrees easily. Solvents dry faster here and I can't brush shellac without brush marks)

[Jim Becker]

Stay with the shellac or move to varnish. (Must be non-poly varnish if you used waxy shellac, although non-poly is better anyway for clarity and hardness) The solvents in lacquer will likely attack the products you've already put on the project, especially a brushing lacquer that goes on thicker and dries slower than a spray lacquer. And unless you have proper ventilation and safety gear, you don't want to be using lacquer anyway.

[Mike Schueler]

Thanks for the reply. It's really what I needed to know.

Now, I would like to know if anyone has a favorite varnish. I visited rockler, lee valley, woodcraft and a few other websites looking for a varnish, but strangely either they have a varnish/oil blend (which I don't want, since it already has BLO), or polyurethane. That's it.

Anyone have a favorite "go to" varnish that they can tell me where I can buy it?

Thanks!

[Craig Hemsath]

Waterlox Original. Stuff is great.

[Mike Schueler]

But but but -- it's a varnish oil blend, is it not? If so, why did I bother with BLO? I am mostly looking for a layering finish on top of shellac on top of BLO that is as clear as possible. Some yellowing is OK, but I don't even want UV protection (no stain or dye, just cherry that I want to watch change over the years).

Is waterlox something that fits the above? I hope I'm not being to annoying, it's just that I spent many, many hours sanding and smoothing this surface, and I hate to think of putting something on it that's going to make that work not worthwhile.

[Jim Becker]

No, Waterlox is varnish plain and simple and an excellent product.

Another good choice is Pratt and Lambert #38.