I found the laquer I like

[Burkhardt]

Not to preach to the professionals here who have spray booths and nice equipment...

I do smaller and one-off jobs and don't have the space nor the volume to justify anything but rattle cans or brushes. I have been using the common nitro laquers with mixed results but found they are really sensitive to scratching and humidity flaking.

Lately I used Dupli-Color acrylic clear enamel (part number DA1692) for several small projects and I am sufficiently impressed to share it here (see application on a piece of Mulberry below). It builds much more than Nitro, dries as fast and can be sanded (1000) and polished to an almost French Polish shine. On a warm day I could start from bare wood to a shiny polish in about 4 hours. Since it is marketed as automotive clear coat I would hope it is somewhat weather and UV resistant.

Prices vary a lot but a 10-oz spray can be had at Amazon for $7 and at the O'Reilly store even at $5.80. Much cheaper than most nitro laquer anyway.

Maybe that is old news for you guys but I was surprised about the difference.

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-8BgmfaE2ErY/U54nhhWECaI/AAAAAAAAE3E/BVYmSi3lpzM/w864-h853-no/DSC02411.JPG

[srwtlc]

Never mind the lacquer, I want some mulberry! :eek: ;)

[scottp55]

What Scott said:)

[Burkhardt]

Never mind the lacquer, I want some mulberry! :eek: ;)

Hard to find. There are a few eBay places selling Mulberry, usually not that cheap. I chopped up a neighbors' tree 7 or 8 years ago and have a supply of smaller pieces. Maybe I check with one of the local tree maintenance folks to let me know when they happen to have a Mulberry. Besides the looks, it is quite hard but easy to machine. People used to make bows from Mulberry (or Osage Orange which is apparently very similar).

As for the picture, I agree the wood grain can be stunning but keep in mind this is a close-up image and it happens to be quarter-sawn which really brings out the medullary rays. It is from the pre-finished inside of this box-in-the-making. Another slight disadvantage of Mulberry is that the contrast-rich yellow/white/brown/black grain will turn into a warm amber within a year or two in light. Still pretty but not as spectacular.

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-B2aAnqWksXY/U55dn6xSYjI/AAAAAAAAE3c/x6JtDwXU1KY/w1051-h853-no/DSC02415.JPG

[srwtlc]

Kind of figured it was quartersawn. Have had some veneers with similar appearance.