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Is it ok to use pre cat nitro over shellac? My plan is, stain, seal with shellac, pore fill with oil based filler, spray with rattle can nitro lacquer.Any tips on using rattle cans would be appeciated.All the best Roby.

Best to run your own test panels....

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Brian

You never know what you are capable of until you actually try.

https://www.howardguitarsdelaware.com/

this is valuable advice.

after spraying a test panel, put it to some tests...my favorites are this: hit it with a hammer and observe what happens...ideally you don't want chunks falling off...then scratch it...again, you don't want delamination...then try scratching it with a thumb nail...if you can peel off finish with a nail, it's a total fail...

test panels say a LOT...

If your shellac is 100% dewaxed, you should be okay. However, like mentioned previously, test on scrap to be sure. And I'd pore fill before sealing with shellac. I wouldn't want anything between the shellac and the top coat for adhesions sake.

As for spraying with rattle cans, there's not much to say. Test the volume output a piece of scrap. I think the tendency would be to lay down too little finish to avoid sags, if you're not experienced. Don't be afraid to slow down until you see the finish sag a bit (on the test piece). This will give you a good idea of how much you can lay down. And anyways, a bit of sagging isn't as bad as not laying down enough and then burning through when sanding or buffing. I don't know what color of shellac you intend on using, but sanding through, say, a garnet shellac and nitro top coat will leave behind signs that you did so.

You can get great results, because basically, it's not the method of laying down the finish that counts as much as the final sanding and buffing. You could potentially brush it on, and have a mirror like surface after. The difference is that you'll have much more sanding to do the rougher the surface is.

Good luck!

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