[Cornholesgalore]

Alright, here's the situation. I've built countless cornholes but have always used poly to finish. I decided to try lacquer in a ram Hplv gun with a regulator on it. Now my environment isn't super controlled right now, but on the first two coats I got bad orange peel. I thinned the lacquer to about 85% with lacquer thinner and sprayed a thicker coat on the 3rd time around. Me being impatient, decided to set the tops upright in a heated room for quicker drying. I came back to discover some of it had sagged. Being a novice with this stuff I did what I typically do on poly and cut off/ wiped off excess with a razor blade. Of course it left pretty big gashes in the finish compared to every where else. My question now is, how to I level this stuff out again. I will attach two pictures to give you guys a better idea.

Onto the next problem. Me still being impatient decided to brush the lacquer for a 4th coat on the other cornhole. The lacquer I bought is brush able and I didn't even really realize it until after the 2nd coat (dont know if that is a factor. So I did a thick coat, and it didn't come out too bad! Besides these air bubbles that formed to the grain of the wood. It is still sticky under the bubbles, can I just wait this out a few days or what? These pups have to be out by Christmas so I have some time. Thanks for the advice!

 

[Mahdeew]

Looks like the bubbles are caused from the heat. If it was me, I would use a scrapper and remove to the bare wood. Lacquer is best used with one thin layer at a time waiting 2 hours or more in between. You don't have to thin it at all.

 

[pintodeluxe]

When you say you thinned it to 85%, do you mean you added 15% lacquer thinner by volume. If so, that sounds pretty reasonable. I have only sprayed lacquer meant to be sprayed, but I have heard of folks spraying "brushing lacquer" successfully. The heavy coat may be the biggest culprit. I spray an even, wet coat but never enough to sag. So my feeling is the coat was just way, way too thick.

As far as how to fix it, my inclination is to sand to bare wood and start over. I'm not sure what material you are working with, or if that's feasible in your case.

 

[RogerInColorado]

I spray "brush on lacquer" pretty frequently. In fact I never brush it on. If I'm going to brush on a finish, I use poly and then pull my hair out waiting for it to dry. Unless I'm using a waterborn product then I have time for lunch and a beer before scuffing for the next coat. Back to your problem. If you apply enough of any finish for it to sag, you are applying way too much finish. Now you're stuck. You can either sand it back down smooth (but you need to use a lubricant such as water or dishsoap and water) or from what it looks like, sand it all the way to bare wood and start over. What I would personally do is go get a bottle of soy gel remover and strip it and start over. That apporoach is a whole lot easier, and and faster and I am known for being really, really lazy.

 

[dhazelton]

It's a cornhole board, not a mahogany secretary. I'd remake them and stick with your regular old poly. It's not worth all the effort to save yourself a piece of plywood.