How to paint a world class finish using piano lacquer. I have a little project I am beginning and I need a how to. I'm not sure of the finish I am going to use, weather it will just be a wood stain or a black, but I know I want a mirror sheen. I have an idea of how to do it, but I am not sure of the buffing requirements. I do have both a variable speed automotive buffer/compounder. It is capable of 200-6000RPMs, and a random orbital buffer as well, so tooling should not be an issue. The plan is calling for 8 to 10 layers of lacquer. I am assuming a 1000 to 1200 grit sand between coats is acceptable. It will take forever, but the end result will be worth it. I know this: Most refinish work is done with nitrocellulose lacquer, the finish of preference in America since the 1920’s. Other finish materials are available, including high polish polyester, which typically costs more than lacquer but is becoming increasingly popular. so I know the materials I need, but I am not sure about buffing specifics. I need RPMs, and polishing liquid requirements. Also, I will need to know if my natural wool high pile buffing pad will work or if the eggcrate pad would be better.
Honestly, 1200 grit is a nearly insane grit... You'll certainly want to start out with a coarser grit - say, 400 - and work your way up to 1200 progressively, sanding the previous one's sanding scratches out... And using a block each time, never your bare hand. And the tricky part is still, honestly, the corners.. it's SO easy to burn through the finish, on the corners. Be aware of that when buffing, too As far as buffing goes, at that point, you're buffing paint... I don't see any reason why it wouldn't be the same as your buffing settings for a car. Man, this brings back memories of a 1987 Mazda GT turbo that I picked up at an auction way back when, mid-90's or so... 5 speed, and loaded... Needed a little body-work, so I did it, and then repainted the entire car - in my mom's garage, with a stack of box-fans pulling air through furnace-filters! Anyway, the single-stage black paint that I used went on thick, ended up with a little orange peel, so I had to block the whole car when I was done, wet-sanding it just like that. And I did burn through I remember the upper corner of the trunk lid, which wasn't quite aligned perfectly flush... But after sanding it, and having a friend of mine (who is an auto-body professional) buff it out, the finish was better than a factory car... which looks killer in black (when it's clean ). The results can be great...
Good advice from geo. Do not sand inbetween coats though. Get you surface prepped properly and there wont be a need to. Do all of your coats at once. Wait 90-120 seconds inbetween coats. It should barely be tacky. If you have to wetsand once you are done spraying, start of with 1000 at the lowest and work up to at least 1200. Buffing should take out the rest. When working with gel coat or a lacquer based paint I used Meguiers Mirror Glaze Diamond Cut Compound to Cut everything down and then used 3M Finesse-it II Finishing Material to bring out the final shine. If you havent buffed before I would recommend practicing on something else first. Will also give you a chance to practice everything else. This will also help you figure out your RPMs.
Oh, I've buffed and compounded before (see tutorial link below ), so that is no issue. I was figuring on a wetsand between coats though, so that is good to know. I use all 3M products for buffing, Finesse-It II for polishing and Perfect-It for compounding.
Yeah I guess I should have mentioned why as well. If you were to wet sand inbetween coats and bring it down to 1000 or less the next layer will not stick very well. All paints and such need a rough surface to stick to. If you wait for it to dry inbetween layers(which I wouldnt do) I would give a quick rough sand with 400 or 600 grit to give the paint something to stick to. If you leave the paint tacky and spray another coat it will stick without the need to sand. It also makes the process so much quicker.
