Brushed lacquer finish

The lacquer is the finishing materials that dry and harden by evaporation of his thinner. There are many type of lacquer but the most popular lacquer for wood finish now is the NC lacquer. It is the lacquer that is made of the nitrocellulose resin as its main ingredient. In the finishing process, this lacquer is applied to form a film coating that serves to protect the finishing layer underneath. General the lacquer is applied by spray to produce even and smooth surface. 

But in this article we want to share the other technique of lacquer application. The nc lacquer is applied by brush to create the brush marks that is purposed to make finish with special looked. The brush application is purposed to make the brush lines as the special effect for the finish. With the combination of black stain and glaze application, then we can get a special antique looked finish.
The finishing system is using the NC system, and the special effects of antic is resulted with sealer application by brush.

Here is the finishing process step by step.

• Sealer application.

It is the first step to prepare the wood surface to produce the smooth surface as the base the application of stain. Apply sealer by spray to the entire surface evenly. Wait until the sealer layer dry. The sealer layer will stiff the wood fibers and make rough surface. Sand the surface with # grade sandpaper to cut off the wood fiber and produce the smooth surface.
Check the finish result, make sure we got the smooth surface and enough film build. We may need to apply sealer 2 layers to make sure we get it. Repeat the sealer application and the sanding operation if necessary to ensure we get the smooth surface and enough film build.  

• Black stain application.

Black stain is applied to produce the black paint color for the finish. We can use the black toner or black stain since they are less contain binder. Avoid the uses of black base coat or black enamel, since the material will build thick black film layer. Too thick black paint will make it is difficult to be broken with the brushing process. The black stain is applied by spray to the surface. Apply 2 layer coat of black stain to cover the entire surface. Wait until it dry and check the result, make sure we got even black color to the entire surface. If necessary we can repeat the stain application.

• Brushing the sealer.

It is the main process in this finish. The step is purposed to make the special effect in this finishing system. Sealer is applied by brush at the surface. How the brushing is done will determine the appearance of the finishing. The technique in the brushing application will determine the brush mark, and finally will result to different looked finish.
Use paint brush with a thick head and good quality. Dip the tip of the brush into the sealer; brush the sealer to the surface. Stroke the brush according to the grain direction. make sure we get the even and similar brush marks.

The lacquer brushing will dissolve some of the black stain and open some black stain layer to show the wood natural color underneath. This technique will result for the black finish with brush marks and wood color. The NC sealer is fast dry material, he will also leave the brush mark texture at surface that bring the finish to more antic looked.

 

brushing the lacquer

 

You can see how to brush the sealer in this video

 

 Let the sealer is dry and check Make sure we got the brush mark and texture as we need. 

• Sealer

Sealer is applied to cover the finishing effect and color to give protection and prepare for the next glaze application. Apply 1 coat of sealer by spray wet coat evenly to the overall finishing surface. Wait until the sealer layer dry dried and do sanding to produce a smooth surface.

• Glaze application

Glaze is used to enhance the antic looked at the finishing. Apply glaze by brush to let it cover the even layer at the finish surface. The glaze will fill in the groove and the brush marks to enhance the antique looked. Do some highlights to enliven the finishing look. You can see how glaze application in our previous article: how to apply the glaze

• Top coat application.

Top coat is applied as the final coat to provide protection to the finishing effects and color. Use the NC top coat with a medium gloss or doff.
Apply the top coat by spray wet coat evenly to overall surface. Let the top coat to dry and checks the result. Make sure we got the smooth and even finish. We can repeat the top coat application to make the smooth and even finish.