To sand or not to sand the shallac?


Timothy

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I am refinishing my white oak kitchen cabinets. I have applied 2 coats of General Finishes water-based stain. Over that I wiped on a coat of Bullseye Sealcoat dewaxed shellac. I had planned on then sanding before applying several coats of Arm-R-Seal. When I began to sand the shellac with 320 it immediately burned through the shellac and through the stain. I was surprised it sanded off so easily. My next idea was to try 600. With 3 strokes of the finer sandpaper the finish had been burned through.

Not sure what I am doing that the finish has burned through so easily. I know the shellac was thin as I had wiped it on. I obviously need the shallac as a barrier between the stain and Arm-R-Seal. Should I apply several coats of shellac (I believe they melt into one another and do not require sanding in between), or should I just not sand the single coat of shellac and just apply top coat over?

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I Love shellac and love that sealer.

It is thin and your just wiping it on(even thinner). You need to brush it out (I like my ox hair brush) the best you can 2 coats. If you get sloppy with your first coat sand your runs and brush strokes with 400 or 320 if you feel like you're not getting anywhere . If your gonna sand through, STOP, and coat again. Shellac is so forgiving. Cant put too much on, just too much on at one time is bad. Get a feel for it on some scrap if you want. Put as much on as you need to get a nice smooth sanding all over. Let it dry and completely cure before you apply your arm r seal (The longer the better, maybe a couple weeks if you can stand it. ).

Have fun

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