Chinese Lacquer Finish

[Roger Jensen]

Does anyone have or know where to find information on re-creating an oriental lacquer finishes for wood work?

Thanks,

Roger

[Andy Dingley]

Ship it to Vietnam, have it refinished there, ship it back. It works out cheaper.

True oriental lacquer is based on urushiol. You can't get the materials in the West, you can't store them for long, you can't get it to cure (without building a drying room) and no-one hereabouts is familiar with working it. So it's a bit of a non-starter to do it locally ! (and believe me, I've tried)

If you're really interested, an excellent (if expensive) read on the subject is Marianne Webb's book, "Conservation and Technology of Lacquer "

(It's cheaper to buy it from the Amazon UK site at present)

-- Die Gotterspammerung - Junkmail of the Gods

[Roger Jensen]

Andy,

Thanks for your reply. I was expecting something of that nature. How about a faux finish? Anyone have insight on them?

Roger

[BUB 209]

I got a very nice Oriental low table at a flea market. I know next to nothing a about this kind of furniture but its ornate and handmade with folding legs. I assumed it had a laquer finish but it turned out to be plain old enamel. If you'd like to see it :

[Andy Dingley]

I use shellac for this, but I'm still very much a beginner when it comes to colouring it.

I did these over the Summer.

red-brown ones are locally mined red ochre (from Clearwell Caves) and worked beautifully. I've also used vermillion (mercury sulphide) as a pigment that's closer to the traditional lacquer colour.

The black ones OTOH were Liberon's commercial black shellac and completely ruined my Summer ! I don't know if it was the heat this year, or if the shellac was old - but I couldn't get a decent finish on the damned things. And of course, I had a customer who was waiting for one... Took me about three months to get a finish I was happy with (mainly waiting for it to get cooler).

-- Die Gotterspammerung - Junkmail of the Gods

[nospambob]