Quote:
Originally Posted by tubesrule
John,
You should only need to tell your refinisher what gloss level you want. There is no need to use flat or semi-gloss finishes.
Nitrocellulose lacquer finishes need to be sanded and rubbed out when done, so you can get any gloss level you want during the polishing stage. This is how it was originally done. Semi-gloss finishes use flatteners to obscure the gloss resulting in a weaker and somewhat cloudy finish. A gloss finish can be polished to any level while a semi-gloss can never be polished to a full gloss level. Also if you don't polish a gloss lacquer finish it will look "plasticy" and terrible.
Some refinishers today will use modern CAB or catalyzed lacquers which if sprayed in a dust free environment don't really require polishing, so a semi-gloss might look better, but it will still look cloudy.
Attached is a picture of my 621 that I refinished with gloss nitrocellulose lacquer and rubbed out with 0000 steel wool.
Darryl
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I wasn't even aware that there was different gloss levels to the actual lacquer. That wasn't even talked about when we discussed the refinishing. He simply wanted to know how I wanted it finished, not what kind of finish to use. He told me that he uses period correct lacquer on projects like this. I'm assuming he meant nitrocellulose but maybe I'll ask him now. I had originally told him to buff it to gloss, but I think I agree with those here who suggested semi so I'm going to tell him to go that way.
Lou was very backed up at the moment so I think that I'll have the chassis restored before I get the cabinet back from him. I did offer a little extra money to get the set done faster, if he takes me up on that offer then they might both be finished in a similar time.