by Joseph » Tue Sep 25, 2012 2:40 pm
There is a way to test if the old finish you have on your drums is laquer.
Get a can of Lacquer Thinner. Put some on a rag and wipe it onto the surface.
If it dissolves quickly into a thin substance, and you can quickly wipe down to bare wood, most probably your finish is lacquer.
A lacquer finish can easily and quickly be stripped off with JUST lacquer thinner.
It's a bit messy, and requires lots ventilation, rubber gloves, steel wool (to apply lacquer thinner), and lots of rags (to soak up and absorb softened lacquer).
It may sound like a daunting mess, but actually quick and easy: scrub on laquer thinner with steel wool in small areas, then quickly wipe off dissolved lacquer.
I once stripped a 6 coated lacquer finish conga in about 30 min, and I mean stripped down to bare wood, ready for hand sanding.
An air compressor is NOT required to apply lacquer, there are many "brushable" lacquer products on the market.
Brushing on lacquer is different than brushing on varnish or polyurethane products.
Varnish & Poly are "flowed' on, i.e. you can go back and rebrush to smooth out wet surface.
Lacquer has a "highly volatile solvent" content, which means the solvent(lacquer thinner) evaporates VERY quickly.
You only get a couple of brush strokes with lacquer and it starts to feel dry.
Do a google search of "applying lacquer with a brush". There is plenty if info out there.
The fact that lacquer dries so quickly means you can put multiple coats on in one day.
A BIG difference between lacquer and varnish, or poly:
Varnish and poly are applied in "layers": you put on one coat, let it cure, possibly sand, then put on another coat, building successive layers of finish.
Lacquer has a totally different quality: each coat of lacquer applied over existing coats softens (actually partially dissolves) the previously applied coat, so that the eventual buildup of lacquer from multiple applications is actually 1 thick coat of lacquer.
Satin lacquer buffed with carnuba wax has turned out to be my favorite finishing product for congas.
Brushable lacquer products will advertise "no sanding between coats", that is because when the new coat softens the existing finish, it tends to smooth out any imperfections or irregularities as the coating thickens.
Lacquer thinner (the highly volatile solvent in lacquer) is what makes this possible.
And to end where I started, lacquer thinner is what makes it very easy (though a bit messy) to strip off a lacquer finish.
No actual tools required!
- Attachments
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- 5 coats satin lacquer applied in one day over oil based stain