Posted by John Riolo on 8/12/2008, 9:25 pm, in reply to "Laquer vs. Polyurethane"
Message modified by board administrator 8/12/2008, 9:55 pm
I've done both and some have acrylic in them too.
The lacquers I've used have been rattle cans only and you can easily use 10-12 cans on a normal size set. Most of the contents misses your drums and you have to be sure to put plenty on so you won't sand through to wood when you wet sand or buff.
Walmart has some good stuff for $1.25 a can! You have to put on very light coats to avoid runs. You should just keep spraying it on in one session so you don't have to sand inbetween coats. You let it cure maybe 2 weeks to absolutely dry and the drums feel fairly rough to touch at this point. Next spend maybe 5 hrs. sanding by hand starting with 150 grit and progressively working your way up with various grits until you get to 1500 or 2000 and wet sand. It will look like crap all the way up to 1500 or 2000 and then zippo... mirrorsville ! Just be careful to not sand all the way through your finish. The few kits I have done by hand came out surprisingly well and actually had a good mirror finish. But what a waste of time and pile of labor. I had two helpers once and it was still a bore. If it's your own kit then fine it's worth it that one time, but I'm not going to offer this as a service, it would upset my busy nap agenda.
Used Watkins Wipe on Poly on the Walnut Kit on my site and then touched up a troubled area with some spray on poly of some type. The advantages of the Poly is that it does not stink as much and seems to dry faster, it may be water based. I have not tried to go to the 2000 wetsand mirror stage but just got out the orange peel with 0000 steel wool and then put on some wax, which makes a nice semi-gloss finish.
Right now when I finish bass drum hoops, which is about as far as I will go for now with finishing anything, I use the fast drying rattle cans from our local hardware store. The current can is KRYLON Crystal Clear gloss. I don't know what it is really, but it says it drys in 10 minutes. I throw the hoops in the closet for a few days to dry well and then put on some Johnson's Paste Wax and buff out with some 0000 steel wool till they are very smooth. Next I just clean that wax off and then put on a fresh thin coat of new wax and buff them by hand with a rag until they don't feel like wax.
A 6 minute job for wax and buff, more my speed.
If I need colored hoops I spray paint them (again Krylon fast drying is a good product), let them dry completely, 0000 steel wool, and then put on some clear coats, let that dry, and steel wool and wax as above.
For Black hoops sometimes I use transtint analine dye and clear over that. It does a nice job and also you can clear sooner with the faster drying time of the dye.
Never got into the buffing wheel with pumice and all that stuff with anything.
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