I'm having trouble with scratches in my lacquer and when I say scratches, I perform a fingernail test on the topcoat and it leaves a indentation

My process on Walnut

Finished to 220 grit

1 coat of wood dye

1 coat of sealer (Zinsser topcoat)

3 coats of Mohawk precat lacquer semi gloss  

I suspect Zinsser may be the problem and was thinking about using a precat sanding sealer instead

Thoughts? and Thank You

Could be the cure time between coats.

16 minutes ago, Gerald said:

Could be the cure time between coats.

That has been my experience.  Best to let each coat dry /  cure overnight.  Then add next layer.  This insures each layer is cured as you build them up.

Could humidity affect the cure time? I don't use lacquer very often so, excuse my ignorance. Also, humidity is usually not a factor, here in AZ. I wonder too, about the application thicknesses.

Try it again with out the sealer Zinsser. Lacquer needs no sealer to produce great results.

Problem now, all what you put on needs to come off to start over.

I forgot to mention if you think you need a sealer for lacquer, get lacquer sealer and I'm not sure if it can be found anymore and that does depend on what part of the country you are in!

@Smallpatch is this something like what you're suggesting, Jesse?

 

 

Edited July 26, 20205 yr by Gene Howe

That's it. When it dries it is easier to sand than regular lacquer.. but regular lacquer sands easy enough..

It dries too fast to get a good smooth coat if brushing. I know what the can says but in hot weather it is not needed.

2 hours ago, Smallpatch said:

It dries too fast to get a good smooth coat if brushing.

 

Once I thought why not use a roller instead of spray or a brush. What could go wrong?? 

 

Rolling lacquer = probably not a good idea.    

I'm a thinking the end results would look almost like the texture we have on all our sheetrocked walls. And don't even know the name that goes with it!!! But I don't think you could ever get it spread out to have any kind of satisfaction like you knew what you were doing........but second thought, why don't you do that for the finish on your next project. You might start a trend that will make brushing lacquer and brushing sealer shot through the roof on the price. And with you knowing all this you could stock pile a train load for a little fun  with all that money you will make.....

   That reminds me,, why did so many people hoard toilet paper at the start of the corona virus. They were showing store after store with empty toilet paper shelves in all the stores???? We never did figure those folks out and their reasoning...

 

 

 

 

1 hour ago, Smallpatch said:

why don't you do that for the finish on your next project.

The sides of my TS cabinet are layered in oil based paint.  1st coat was aluminum paint, then a grey flat color and finally splattered with a silver color.  Let that dry for a week and coated with 3 coats of rolled lacquer.  It does produce the same look as rolled sheetrock walls.  Unique but rolling lacquer used alot of lacquer at each coat.  The odor in the shop even with exhaust fan running was rather heavy for a week or so afterward.

 

A person can learn a lot experimenting but I never wrote anything down and later if I wanted to replicate something again nothing ever came out the second time around!

One more thought is that the lacquer could be old and may not cure properly.

31 minutes ago, Gerald said:

One more thought is that the lacquer could be old and may not cure properly.

I do not have experience with Mohawk.  The pot life for Sherwin-Williams precat lacquer is 4 months.  I did spray some which was 5 months old and had good results.  I have used Zinsser sealer under SW precat lacquer and had no issues.  The Zinsser I used was more than 1 yr old.  Danl

Joe, someone suggested it above...you can prove whether it was the Zinnser by testing the lacquer by itself. You don't have to do it fancy, just take a piece of scrap and wipe the coats on with a paper towel or cloth. Do 3 coats, and then test for hardness. You don't even need the dye, was that the reason you applied the sealer in the first place?

Never heard of shelf life for lacquer in the can. If you can pour it out of the can its still good.....

  In the fifties lacquer came thick and you had thin it from about 40 to 50 %. If you only added say 20 % lacquer thinner you would be shooting glossy strands out the end of the gun....

In my opinion the manufactures of lacquer got smart for their bottom line...They figured if they sold it already thinned down they could make more money with less product.. as the thinner was cheaper to make than lacquer was.....So all the painters and  finishers had to refigure how many gallons per job they had to buy for a thinned down gallon was not a gallon any more. The stores came up with the idea that painters was not smart enough to thin their own paint..

  Much like in todays world if the makers of toilet paper want to raise the price they just added a larger hole to roll the paper on. Or tater chips just adds a larger sack and says product will pack down and make it look like we are screwing you people. 

1 hour ago, Smallpatch said:

Never heard of shelf life for lacquer in the can. If you can pour it out of the can its still good.....

 

I think that's true of regular NC lacquer...it keeps forever. But the catalyzed stuff is (as I understand it) a different animal. I think that's why they sell post cat lacquers...it keeps well on the shelf, but once you catalyze it the clock starts ticking.

Edited July 27, 20205 yr by Fred W. Hargis Jr

6 hours ago, Gerald said:

One more thought is that the lacquer could be old and may not cure properly.

This would be my first guess.  Contact Mohawk tech support and check on shelf life of their pre-cat and see if you can find their dating codes.  Second guess is that your walnut is not very dense.

 

That said, I've used some older non-pre-cat lacquer and not had those sorts of problems.

I still have a question, why did you use the Zinsser?

https://www.woodshopnews.com/columns-blogs/what-is-hardness-and-why-does-is-matter

 

Zinsser SealCoat and Aerosol are wax free.   Bullseye liquids are not.  Generally wax creates adhesion issues with some finishes like poly.    SealCoat says it's OK under lacquer (and most other finishes).