Paint Experts! Help! Issue with lacquer finish on cabinets
bridgetmalone
10 years ago
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paintguy22
10 years agobridgetmalone
10 years agoRelated Discussions
Touching up lacquer chips on Chinese lacquer cabinet
Comments (3)The tiny url doesn't offer a good enlargement of the close up. First of all you state that you have an "an actual antique Japanese lacquer cabinet", what does the term "Antique" mean to you. In the US the only legal use of the term "Antique", is for customs on items that are over 100 years old. Are you saying your actual antique can be certified to have been made in japan before 1914? The term lacquer is often used for any kind of shiny finish. True Chinese (or Japanese) lacquer is made from sumac sap, and because of it's poisonous content, the liquid lacquer is illegal in the US. Because of the high cost of true lacquer, much of the furniture made in the 20th century may have a single layer of lacquer applied over a composite base. (that would be the blue undercoat). But it is much more common for the 'lacquer' to be black paint and regular varnish applied over a composite base: what was once called "Japanning." Because this piece might have some sumac constituents, I would advise extreme caution if you file or sand it, or if you lose more chips, like you would with removal of asbestos. For that reason, a complete sanding and refinishing is not advised, also true lacquer, after being sanded, may not take well to modern chemical varnishes applied on top. If this piece were mine, I would first infill the crack with spackle, using a scrubbing sponge after it had dried to remove the excess from the edges, and to slightly reduce the height of the divot. The idea behind the spackle is that it would be easily reversible with water. On top of the spackle you may want a base coat of something, watered down acrylic craft paint would do well to seal the porous nature of the spackle, but so would a thin coat of Elmer's glue. Then, like you suggested, a black finger nail polish, with maybe a clear coat polish after it dried. Like you said, this wouldn't 'blend in' completely, but would not be so jarring as the blue or white chips. A museum might be able to get a variance on importing real lacquer from sumac for repairing their treasures, and I do know of one person who smuggled in a small can of lacquer, but you can't expect a restorer in the US to use real lacquer for a repair. I would guess a professional repair would be similar to what I suggested, with adjustments for the materials, perhaps only using water base materials that could easily be removed at a later time if you wanted it. What one puts into this kind of repair should reflect the value of the piece. I could imagine someone just taking a sharpie to it and saying "done". If I understand what you mean by "feathering" it is the little blue lines? That is a result of the lower strata of japanning (black) shrinking more then the over varnish, it cracks and shows the blue composite below. I doubt this was how the piece looked when it was brand new. Considering that the finish on this cabinet is showing this kind of deterioration, we might expect more of the same, and like I mentioned, I would be careful to look for and remove dust and chips from the piece on a weekly basis, just in case, before children or pets get to it, or before I breath it in. This post was edited by Lilylore on Mon, Nov 24, 14 at 23:40...See MoreCabinet maker's paint (lacquer) job on custom kitchen cabinets???
Comments (3)Your requests are not unreasonable. In my mind, industry standard is that you should get a full coat of paint (no missed spots and complete coverage with a good film build) and the surfaces should be smooth. You are right about the environment in which the cabinets were sprayed. Some guys go to great lengths to create a dust free area in which to spray and others are cabinet makers first, painters second. With lacquer because it dries so fast, you really have to spray an item and move it out of the area. If overspray hits a door that is already dry, then that door will be rough....See MoreHelp, my new white lacquer cabinets are peeling!
Comments (22)I just had custom shaker full overlay white lacquer cabinets installed. The wood cabinet doors look like they have a striping effect to them - "blue white" with "whiter white" in a vertical strip, as if the finish spray was not overlapped enough. My cabinet maker explains it as "seeing the wood paneling (?) through the lacquer because it is not a lacquer and not a painted finish". I'm a newbie here and have no idea but the end result doesn't seem right to me. Why would a solid wood door have panel strips? Is that how doors are made? Why would enough of a coat of white lacquer still what'sallow underneath to show through? Can someone help explain if this is "normal" for a white lacquer finish or if I should insist it should be corrected?...See MoreRefinishing kitchen cabinets -lacquer vs paint and reface or not
Comments (25)$1750 is a hack. Not a Pro. It’s not even half of what a good job should cost. 7-9K is average, from someone that knows what they are doing spraying a conversion varnish. Lacquer is a 10 minute finish for cabinets because it does not hold up to moisture. House paint belongs on houses, not cabinets. It won’t be durable enough. Read about the KCMA testing that all cabinet manufacturers undergo for a factory finish. That is the kind of durability that you are giving up. For chips, runs, and drips, and bugs and dust. https://www.kcma.org/certifications/ansi-kcma-certification DEMAND a finished door sample to do your own testing. You will end up in the same boat as these people. The tide has turned on white cabinets. Wood cabinets are coming back strong. And those are ahead of the game. When white cabinets are the new avocado green, you’ll wish you had your old wood ones back....See Morepaintguy22
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bridgetmaloneOriginal Author