Finishing cabinets has frustrated me lately and I’ve been looking for some different options.
My woodworking and finishing skills are not great. I’m still trying to learn. On one project (shelves) I had good luck with a brush on poly from Zar but it darkened things too much for my tastes. I tried brushing on a CAB-acrylic lacquer on my next project (Modula MT’s). It didn’t work out too well. Shiny but bumpy and wavy. On my current speaker project I’ve brushed on shellac. Very shiny but also not smooth. I screwed up a few spots, wuite easily. For me, I think the way to go for a really nice finish is going to have to be a spray option of some sort. The Rockler HVLP sprayer (~$100) I got failed with the CAB-acrylic lacquer. It might be good with some other things, though.
So in looking around for other options, I read up (including a book) on how guitars are finished. It’s all spray, of course. A fancy spray setup (compressor, etc.) is used for the best finishes. But it sounds like you can get pretty close with spray cans. This company seems to be one of the preferred places by the guitar folks:
You can buy spray cans of the primer, the color, and then the clear lacquer. For speakers, if you just want to show the wood, maybe the clear lacquer might be all you need. Or heck, maybe color speakers to look like an electric guitar or a 1960's car paint. I haven’t tried any of this but I’m considering it for my next project. So I thought I’d throw it out there in case it helps anyone.
-Jon
My woodworking and finishing skills are not great. I’m still trying to learn. On one project (shelves) I had good luck with a brush on poly from Zar but it darkened things too much for my tastes. I tried brushing on a CAB-acrylic lacquer on my next project (Modula MT’s). It didn’t work out too well. Shiny but bumpy and wavy. On my current speaker project I’ve brushed on shellac. Very shiny but also not smooth. I screwed up a few spots, wuite easily. For me, I think the way to go for a really nice finish is going to have to be a spray option of some sort. The Rockler HVLP sprayer (~$100) I got failed with the CAB-acrylic lacquer. It might be good with some other things, though.
So in looking around for other options, I read up (including a book) on how guitars are finished. It’s all spray, of course. A fancy spray setup (compressor, etc.) is used for the best finishes. But it sounds like you can get pretty close with spray cans. This company seems to be one of the preferred places by the guitar folks:
You can buy spray cans of the primer, the color, and then the clear lacquer. For speakers, if you just want to show the wood, maybe the clear lacquer might be all you need. Or heck, maybe color speakers to look like an electric guitar or a 1960's car paint. I haven’t tried any of this but I’m considering it for my next project. So I thought I’d throw it out there in case it helps anyone.
-Jon
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