Deft Lacquer Sanding Sealer-Shellac?

[Wayne Bitting]

Howdy all – I’m going to try out a non-poly or oil/wax finish. Here is what I’m working with. The woods are lacewood, cherry, curly and ambrosia maples. I mixed 50/50 BLO and MS wiped it on and then off a minute later, 400 grit hand sand, then buffed it with a cotton cloth and let it sit for over 2 weeks. It feels like butter and had no odor.
From here I would like to lacquer it. I’ve read that you need to use dewaxed shellac first to seal the wood and oil. Is that the same as using Deft Lacquer Sanding Sealer? I’m limited to the BORG type stores, but couldn’t find anything labeled “dewaxed”. Maybe a paint supply place like MAB carries it. I plan to use Deft Brushing Lacquer. And yes, I’ve got plenty of scrap to test on first!

Thanks-w

[David Christopher]

Wayne, shellac and sanding sealer are not the same but if its been a week you can use the sanding sealer stait on the wood then the top finish when that is dry and sanded

[J. Scott Holmes]

I would suggest you leave the sanding sealer on the store shelf. Save yourself some money. Sanding sealers are realitively soft, why use a soft finish on a hard wood under a hard finish. If you want to fill the grain; use shellac it's hard, optically clear, dries in minutes and is color fast. Zinsser Seal Coat at the big bosx stores is a dewaxed shellac.

[Jim Becker]

Scott, in general, your advise about "sanding sealers" is sound--the majority are just revenue generating SKUs that offer little or no benefit and sometimes detriment to the collective finish. But lacquer is a whole different animal in that respect. It's not uncommon for folks spraying lacquer to use a lacquer/vinyl sanding sealer as a first coat. These products are lacquer based and have added solids to provide some additional filling action without conflicting with subsequent lacquer coats. With lacquer products, using the sealer first is fine and best practice is to use the same brand as the top coats for best compatibility.