Finishing a cabinet

[Hoffy]

I need help. I have not used a laquer finish before. I wish to finish a a timber radio cabibnet with nitro celeous laquer. It currently finished with poly. Not happy with this finish. It was not filled correctly from the finish. Is it sufficient to rub the cabinet back to a flat finish then spray the laquer over the poly finish. Will there be a reaction between the two types of finish. Do I have to strip the cabinet to bare timber?. som of the trim has an oil based paint cobering it to get the colour. Can you spray over the paint without a reaction. I suspect there may be trouble. During manufacture of these cabinets this trim appears to have been paint then finished in nitro. How would the cabinet makers of old carried out this process??. I have many old radios to restore.

Any advice will be helpful. I don't wish to stuff it up the first time around. I am used to spraying laquer of the car type. Now have a HVLP gun.

[Marty Lott]

Hi Hoffy

I've finished many a radio cabinet in my time using Nitro Cellulose with great results. First off I'd strip yours back to bare wood, the Poly will probably give you adhesion problems & the oil base paint will fry due to the Nitro thinners.
My method of finishing is as follows...one coat of dewaxed shellac as a sealer, sand with 320 aluminium oxide...mask off trim & use black Nitro...remove masking tape etc & apply at least 4-5 coats gloss clear Nitro...sand with 600 grit then pull over the finish using a chamois pad with thinners....rub back with 0000 steel wool then apply a paste wax for a great final lustre.

Let us know how you go !

[RETIRED]

Gooday.

Do a search through the Finishing section with lacquer and in the title and you will be amazed at what you find

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Ian () Robertson
"We do good turns every day"