Re: Drum finishing

@ Ultimax,

Basically in order to get the color/stain shade that you wanted, you have to apply stain few or several times. What I do is mix the stain with the clear lacquer finish and apply it to the wood by spraying. Every additional coating, the shade/color darkens. Much easier to control. It works also on PU finishes. The procedure also prevents unwanted black stains on open grains. BTW I use PU reducer and NOT lacquer thinner on both lacquer and PU finishes. It always works for me.

What type/brand of stain do you mix with your clear lacquer? also what brand of clear lacquer do you use?

Re: Drum finishing

[QUOTE=moji;
What type/brand of stain do you mix with your clear lacquer? also what brand of clear lacquer do you use?

Hi Moji,
Wood from bare state can accept dyes and powder stains before sealing so you can have a base tint or color tone. Problem with this is there isn't much room for mistakes b'coz the colorants are deeply embedded in the grain. What we do is lightly seal the work piece w/ a bland mix of sealer and thinner 50/50, to lightly create a grain seal but enough to accept colorants. Then we seal it again before we color stain w/ another type of material called NGR's or Non-Grain Raising penetrants otherwise known as penetrating stain and/or PU stains. When you've got the color tone you like you may want to seal it w/ a clear gloss topcoat initially to highlight your grain and color tones. Then topcoat w/ a sheen of your desire ex. Flat, Matte, Semi-gloss and High Gloss. These methods are what we use for lacquers and Polyurethanes that are solvent type. Acrylics and Spar varnishes may have different variants for prep materials but their approaches are quite similar. You can use just about any brand there is in the market, local or imported. In fact, there is this local company called ADD Research in Marikina along A. Bonifacio Ave. (Taniong) w/c has a VERY GOOD series of Poly and Lacquers for projects like g0d5_g1ft's . Hope this helps.:p

Re: Drum finishing

Great info Willy, mind if you post some sample product (finishing materials) shots from ADD Research? Do they retail to end users as well? Thanks!

Re: Drum finishing

Great info Willy, mind if you post some sample product (finishing materials) shots from ADD Research? Do they retail to end users as well? Thanks!

Yes they do retail. This company was the former FINCH paints and finishes of the US. After the EDSA revolution in '86, the US principal left everything to their Filipino counterpart who in turn successfully built the brand ADD Research. You will find that they have some good, in fact, top notch finishes comparable even w/ most imported brands. The best is it's a local company. I've been using their products since 1994. Remember the samples of wood i brought w/ me on our last eb? Their finishes resemble those sample finishes.

Re: Drum finishing

two months later I get y shell here it is:

sanded 220, then stained using dye (good old jobus)

I used sanding sealer over this, I got the rj london woodstain sanding sealer, the can has no indications of what its made of.

after about 8 coats of sanding sealer, sanding up to 1200 grit, here it is (image is before i sand the last coat of sealer

I think I overdid the sanding sealer part, I dont think I'm supposed to go up to 1200 grit on the sealer, I tried to spray poly on top of it and the poly barely stuck to it, it almost felt like its beading. good thing I only did a very thin coat. I have an ACE polyurethane clear gloss.

How much do I need to sand the sealer before I apply poly on top? sanding the sealer to 600 already felt smooth to the touch, I've no idea why I went up to 1200 lol

Re: Drum finishing

that is one reason why we advice you use same brands... anyway, I always sand between coatings and use 220 grit and 400grit depending on what I applied.
earlier you made a test piece with results that pleases you, why change?

Re: Drum finishing

Good morning,

Yes I was happy with the initial results of the test pieces. I did the same thing basically the only difference was I added the sanding sealer so I can get better base for the top coat. I already plan to buy a top coat of the same brand (rj london or bosny).

So bottom line, I overdid it with the sanding sealer lol, Im going to have to cut it more with 400 i guess...

Thanks sir Timber.

Re: Drum finishing

Good morning,

Yes I was happy with the initial results of the test pieces. I did the same thing basically the only difference was I added the sanding sealer so I can get better base for the top coat. I already plan to buy a top coat of the same brand (rj london or bosny).

So bottom line, I overdid it with the sanding sealer lol, Im going to have to cut it more with 400 i guess...

Thanks sir Timber.

Try to maintain a single brand and base of the finish. it is also important to know what base material your varnish or sealer is made of. If it is lacquer then the sealer and topcoat should be all lacquer type. ACE has a lot of PU bases. From my trials w/ their brand i have encountered OIL & WATER BASED Polyurethane. If your RJ London Sealer happened to be lacquer type you may have to cut down again w/ grit 220 to remove as much of the old film so you may be able to use the right ACE PU SEALER & TOPCOAT BASE otherwise use the topcoat of RJ London for consistency. About 3 coats of sealer and 2-3 coats of topcoat would suffice your finish. It's how you sand prep the material that will define the final finish. Good Luck!

Re: Drum finishing

Try to maintain a single brand and base of the finish. it is also important to know what base material your varnish or sealer is made of. If it is lacquer then the sealer and topcoat should be all lacquer type. ACE has a lot of PU bases. From my trials w/ their brand i have encountered OIL & WATER BASED Polyurethane. If your RJ London Sealer happened to be lacquer type you may have to cut down again w/ grit 220 to remove as much of the old film so you may be able to use the right ACE PU SEALER & TOPCOAT BASE otherwise use the topcoat of RJ London for consistency. About 3 coats of sealer and 2-3 coats of topcoat would suffice your finish. It's how you sand prep the material that will define the final finish. Good Luck!

Thank You very much, I'll just get RJ london top coat and cut back on the sealer too. Question up to what grit should I sand the sealer? I was too much of an idiot to sand the current sealer up to 1200 lol.

Re: Drum finishing

If you are working from bare wood start w/ grit 220-240 for veneers and grit 100-180 for solid wood. For each coat u must elevate the grit to the next level as well. Ex. start w/ 220 then seal it, sand the next layer w/c was sealed w/ 240 or higher. Wet sanding is helpful also to reduce swirl and streak marks as a result of overheating the film due to sanding. Grits higher than 400 are meant for ultra gloss finishes. Usually these grits reach as far as 2000 but u may have to use polishers, rubbing compounds and waxes / conditioners or glaze to achieve their true gloss. that's why PU's are a good cheat. High build, fast and glossy finishes but you have to do it in very controlled conditions bcoz of dust and drying issues.

Re: Drum finishing

If you are working from bare wood start w/ grit 220-240 for veneers and grit 100-180 for solid wood. For each coat u must elevate the grit to the next level as well. Ex. start w/ 220 then seal it, sand the next layer w/c was sealed w/ 240 or higher. Wet sanding is helpful also to reduce swirl and streak marks as a result of overheating the film due to sanding. Grits higher than 400 are meant for ultra gloss finishes. Usually these grits reach as far as 2000 but u may have to use polishers, rubbing compounds and waxes / conditioners or glaze to achieve their true gloss. that's why PU's are a good cheat. High build, fast and glossy finishes but you have to do it in very controlled conditions bcoz of dust and drying issues.

ahh Thanks again! I'll post updates once available 🙂