Unwanted "Orange Peel"

[steve-norrell]

Help!

I have been trying to put a finish on a checker / chess board for a grandson and have been applying multiple coats Zinsser SealCoat, with light sanding in between coats. I did not thin the SealCoat.

Suddenly, as I was sanding down what I hoped would be the final (fourth) coat before applying polyurethane, the "orange peel" bumps appeared. They can be seen best around the light reflections on the surface of the board

Note that the bumps appeared as I was sanding -- they were not there when I started sanding. And, to make it even more confusing, the size of the bumps seem to be decreasing with time (the picture was taken on the third day after they first appeared). I suspect that the shellac was not completely dry (set) and the bumps appeared as I rubbed the sanding block (200 grit, relatively light pressure) over the surface.

What do I do now? Leave it sit for a week or two (its for a Christmas present so there is plenty of time) before sanding smooth and applying polyurethane? Take it back down to the wood and start over? If so, how?

Thanks in advance for the help.

Steve

[pecker]

If nothing else, try to find the date code of the Seal Coat. That stuff has a shelf life , I think, of 3 years. It doesn't harden properly if it's old.

[docrowan]

Steve,

I don't have a suggestion, but please post back with whatever you find. I'm interested in shellac and the Zinnser SealCoat is what I would choose to use if I could ever find it around here.

Good luck!

[steve-norrell]

UPDATE

I called the folks at Zinsser and found out . . . .

I had forgotten to mention that I did do one coat with Zinsser's Spray Shellac, which, according to the chap I talked with, contains wax. (although I couldn't find that anywhere on the label.) Since waxed shellac is not a good substrate for lots of finishes, he felt that it probably caused any additional layers to bead, causing the "orange peel" effect.

So . . . to may chagrin, this may have been my fault. Moral of the story: if doesn't say wax-free it probably isn't -- but, in any case, its safest to assume that there is wax in the mix.

His suggestion was to sand down the bumps and reapply the Seal Coat (which is wax-free). I think I will wait a few more days to try that.

Sorry for the confusion, regards,

Steve

PS: The Seal Coat I used was only two years old.

[docrowan]

Thanks for the update. I wonder, if you plan to use a shellac finish only with a paste wax topcoat if the regular shellac will work.

[steve-norrell]

Thanks for the update. I wonder, if you plan to use a shellac finish only with a paste wax topcoat if the regular shellac will work.

Chris,

What I wanted to do was use the shellac to fill all the grain, then use polyurethane to get a smooth, durable surface. Actually, I had done that and used 1000 grit wet paper to give it smooth, matte finish.

However, there were some "low spots" that the 1000 grit paper couldn't reach so I decided to sand off the finish down to bare wood and start over. It was during the application of the shellac filler layers where I got into trouble with the spray product (The one that does not mention wax on its label.).

My plan was, and still is, to repeat the shellac filling, then surface coat with a fast drying polyurethane.

Overall, my impression of the Bulls Eye Seal Coat is pretty good and I am not willing to give up on it. I'll try to remember to post pictures when its done.

Regards, Steve

[steve-norrell]

Embarrassment and confusion deepens . . . .

It turns out that the spray shellac is, indeed, wax-free. See the fifth line down in the picture of the small (at least for these old eyes) print on the back of the can. Could it be possible that the guy at Zinsser was also wrong? Nah, tech support wrong? Never! (Sorry about the fuzzy picture -- couldn't get the closeup any clearer.)

So what caused the orange-peel effect?

Regards, Steve

[pelligrini]

Maybe there is a similar waxlike compound included in the spray. It's not wax, so one could say 100% wax free.