Heard a guy at the Milwaukee supply house say he never sands between coats of shellac

He was telling his buddy that the coats melt into each other anyway, so it's a waste of time. I've always done a light 320 grit pass between every coat for a perfect finish. This got me thinking about workflow and if I'm adding an unnecessary step. Do you sand between shellac coats, or just let it flow?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_hayden2mo ago

Bro what?! Never sanding at all? That's wild. The melt-in thing is true, but you still get nibs and dust specks that get locked in. A super quick pass with 320 just knocks the high spots off. Skipping it is how you end up with a finish that feels rough and looks amateur. That guy is saving five minutes to mess up his whole project.

ben_lewis2mo ago

So @the_hayden, you always sand between every single coat then? Even on the last one?

nguyen.angela2mo ago

Honestly, I learned the hard way after a few lumpy finishes that @the_hayden is right. A quick sand just knocks down the dust nibs without hurting the melt. My lazy attempt to skip it once left a table feeling like a cat's tongue.