A Woodworkers Guide to PERFECT Finishing - Step by Step and Fixing Common Problems

love the video! Have yuo tried Woodoc products? A woodturner friend of mine recommended it and I love them. The oil based range for the dark wood and their waterborne Ultra Matt for the light woods. I'd love to hear what you thought about them. Thanks for the video

Do you have a video where you are doing the final coat with the rattle can lacquer instead of the sprayer gun?

Planer snipe doesn't happen if you lead and follow with scrap sticks during the operation😊

Is it necessary to use a lacquer based primer on a piece of bare wood with minimal grain before painting with a lacquer based paint or can I just hit it with several coats of paint only? Thanks anyone!

Excellent video. We’ll dome.

Thanks for this super awesome video. Tik Tok can be banned for all I care, but I would not survive without these kinds of tutorials and tips. Haha

does 0000 steel wool work well instead of the sandpaper? I notice some grey dust from the steel wool on the surface.... wiping off with a tack cloth also seems to leave a sticky residue on the surface....

can spray ;lacquer go over a tung oil finish? maybe pointless?

I was curious whether you would use spray or brush for small area refinishes? I just acquired a furniture piece that is lacquer finished. There are some scratches and scrapes that are going to need touched up (some light sanding with 0000 steel wool for the scratches, fill with filler pencil, we will see. For touching up the lacquer finish, would spraying or brushing be the better approach. I have a decent amount of experience with oil & poly finishes, but none with lacquer. Thanks for any suggestions.

This is Jimmy Kimmel's brother

Heck with Laquer - Too tricky . . .

Great video. Thank you much !!!! I have been considering getting an HVLP gun, but have been somewhat intimidated. Would anyone happen to know if they are hard to clean? I would guess you could use the thinner as a cleaning agent.

I have found that the Deft lacquer does not harden ever. It remains soft. I use Mohawk lacquer for everything. More expensive but worth every penny!

Is the process the same regardless of the wood used? Is it more suited to hardwoods, or can I use it on pine as well?

Why insult people who like gloss? It is the most popular choice of most buyers home owners the we days.

Awesome vid 👍👍

another awesome video! but I'd trade it for a permanent cure to planer snipe. My dewalt 735 had zero snipe at first. so frustrating.

thank you for this video you're a great teacher and artist, but this video has really showed my I am not cut out for woodworking i can't finish a piece of wood if my life depended on it using a rattle can it just comes out lumpy and uneven, with finger prints when i try to turn pieces over, no idea how to do it

Can you give me a link to purchase the blue spray can tips you prefer? I don’t see it in the description. Thank you!

Could some one tell me how much compressor capacity is needed for HVLP gun?

Can this be done without sanding?

I've been using this EXACT product for a couple of years - but they just (summer '24) rebranded and relabeled the product WITH a different spray nozzle. Not cool design change... but still a good lacquer. I have REALLY gotten a LOT from this video, and even understand some of the challenges I've faced and had to learn through. Thanks Jonathan - really helpful and informative!!

I love everything about the way this guy presents. Content is on the money, doesn’t waste a lot of time qualifying and CYA, speaks quickly but articulates well - so I get a lot of info quickly and I understand what I’ve heard. Start to finish instructions with tons of helpful tips like, “wipe, don’t blow.” In a crowded field of videos, this is one of the best I’ve seen.

Hi! Thank you for very useful video and great tips – immediate subscription! I tried to do something similar, but something went a bit off, so I’m kindly asking you for an advice: I have a wooden IKEA table. Its top made of several wooden blocks, so it’s not a single sheet of wood. I dyed it using water-based dye, and covered it with the first coat of polyurethane lacquer. The thing is that after applying the first coat I can see that the surface gone patchy – some wooden blocks are glossy and smooth, and some – dull and a bit rough to the touch, where the wood absorbed the lacquer.
I was going to use fine sandpaper to even the surface after the first coat of lacquer. But now I’m a bit confused as I don’t know if I could damage the dye layer on the dull patches and expose the wood, as it is obviously very thin.
What would you suggest to do in this case? I was going to do at least three coats of lacquer with sanding in between.

Good coat of paste wax or even auto glaze will keep the non plastic look but also make the finish look about 10" deep.

Thank you I have been struggling with doing the finish on my projects. This is huge help. As a beginning wood worker... yep, I caught the snipe.

Great info. Thank you

Question: do you use any type of wood cleaner prior to stain or finish? Thanks for the great video!

What novel size for watco epoxy thined as you recommended?

Love spraying lacquer. What do you do when spraying over stained pieces. Let pieces sit for 24-48 hrs and getting reactions ( white hazing). Do you use a sealer? Thanks

Can you do a video on a classic black lacquer finish? I want to refinish my great grandmother’s 100 year old piano but I cannot find how to do a proper finish for it.

THANK YOU!! hours of research summarized I wish I found this first.

🤔 ah yes, I know all about self-wetting finishes.

I like to see you do a guitar stain spray lacquer on it going to do this soon myself putting purple stain on front & neck I need gelp

Great video! I painted a bathroom mirror frame using cabinet paint from Lowe’s. It came out really nice. I want to use a spray can lacquer to help protect the paint. Should I lightly sand the surface before applying the lacquer or just spray without sanding?

This is a great video. I'm a finishing carpenter and I love making built ins but have struggled to find someone to professionally spray them; I've always been intimidated to try. I'm definitely going to get a spray gun and start practicing. Thanks for the tips!

Dude. THANK YOU! What an incredibly informative video!!! Subscribed!

Thanks for the video. Several suggestions though. First, finish, it has nothing to do with "experience". It's simply quicker and easier to do a satin finish. A high gloss finish, depending upon the quality you are willing to accept may take far longer and be far more tedious than satin where orange peal and polishing are unnecessary. Speaker cabinets for high end audio come in oil, to automotive clear coat finishes all selling for thousands or tens of thousands of dollars. Experience says satin is easy, but the end user may be willing to pay for much more as they expect a long relationship with the end product and may find high gloss more appealing. Second, when you screwed up in your planning of the wood, you said to not judge you for not catching the snipping. Who then should take responsibility? Adults take responsibility for both the good and the bad, and our societies "don't judge" is one of the silliest things to hang one's hat upon. Of course others are going to judge you, they cannot help to do so, it's a basic survival instinct. The trick is to try to be above reproach so that any negative judgements reflect poorly upon the one judging. Reality though is that none of us are perfect, but saying "don't judge me" for X, Y, or Z actually draws attention and inadvertently begs judgements because you drew their attention to yourself. Frankly I'd not have noticed the snipping because I was focused upon you. If you have to draw attention to a mistake though, own it. After all, it IS your mistake, and you appear far more responsible thus trustworthy when you just own it.

How long do you wait before sanding? Three coats, sand, and then fourth coat?

Ok so I haven’t been able to get the spray pattern right at all. I’m using Sher-wood white lacquer undercoat P65WT1. I don’t understand thinning. You said 15-20 percent but yet what you poured during the “glug glug” looked like so much more. Everything looks like overspray. Using the same gun, regulator, and air filter setup. I really appreciate your videos, but dammit I’m frustrated

Just noticed you just hit 500k! Congrats, sir! Well deserved!!!

What's the mix ratio between lacquer and thinner? Also, what would you do with leftover lacquer in your gun? Thanks... Enjoyed your video.

i am glad the spray dries so quickly or the car parked next to you will "cope it" !!

Why do you like water based poly and do you have a video on tips? I find it very difficult to work with and I always prefer oil based poly. It just doesn't apply like oil based poly at all imo.

This was just a raw slab, sanded, without any stain on it. Is lacquer safe on oil-based and water-based stains as a topcoat? That was the only missing piece of information I keep missing on finishing videos, but I am sure you have a video on that as well. If you do, can you shoot the link to me, please? Great video, and I am excited to try lacquer as a finish on my projects!

This is brilliant info, great video really to the point easy to understand excellent work,

Don’t forget to use a respirator when spraying lacquer as it is cancerous