[Ant1885]

Hi,
I want to make a coffee table with a zebrawood veneer (0.6mm)
I've never used this before and don't have a spray gun etc.
I want a high gloss finish and wondered how to obtain this...
Could someone tell me the finishing process (sanding, filling etc)
I want to keep the contrast between the light areas and the dark stripes as much as possible.

Many thanks
Ant

 

[Steve Neul]

If you don't have a sprayer you are in for a lot of elbow grease doing a high gloss finish. For what you are doing you need to be sure to use a finish that is non-yellowing. Any gloss finish that is acrylic would work. A gloss water based polyurethane could be also be used. Brush the finish on as thin as you can with as soft a paint brush as you can find with as few strokes as you can. When dry keep applying coats until you get a film a little thicker than you want sanding between coats with 220 grit paper. Let the finish dry for a couple of weeks then wet sand the finish starting with 400 grit and continue until you get the brush marks out. Then wet sand with 800 grit, then 1000 grit, then 1500 grit, then 2000 grit and then buff with rubbing compound. If you have a auto polisher this will help with the rubbing compound. You should be able to bring it to a glass like finish and then put a clearcoat safe polish on it. The brush marks are the hard part. A high gloss shows everything so you kinda have to put a thick coat on and hand rub it out. They did it in the 18th and 19th century without sprayers. If you have a compressor a 20 dollar harbor freight sprayer would save you a lot of work.

 

[Tilaran]

Use a pour on bar top finish.

 

[bzguy]

If you project is just a small coffee table, you could buy a spray-can or three of the desired finish and save a lot of time and money.