Expert: Eileen Cronk - 12/8/2007

Question
My husband and I had a custom made entertainment cabinet built for our
living-room.  The cabinet shop that made the piece typically works for home-
builders and specializes in just the cabinet building, so my husband is now
left to add the crown molding to the top, installing lights and glass and stain
and finish the cabinet.  He's very handy and has successfully taught himself
how to do a lot of work as we have been remodeling our house.  For instance,
he bought a planer/molder and made some beautiful trim and completed all
of the trim (crown mold, chair rail, door & window casings, etc.) in a new
renovation to our house, so we feel very confident about his ability to learn
new skills, but we are a little worried about finishing the cabinet.  He is
planning to stain, then spray a sanding-sealer, and then spray lacquer.  He
doesn't really have any experience spraying much of anything, and we've been
cautioned by my dad that this is something my husband should not attempt.  
Unfortunately my dad is very often cautioning my husband not to try
something, and up until this point, he's always proved him wrong.  I guess
my question is just how difficult is it to spray lacquer finish?  Is it something
that my husband should be able to attempt?  If so, are there any tips, or
methods that we should know about?

Answer
Hi Casey
Nice to hear from you.
How lucky you are to have a hubby who wants to learn all these woodworking and finishing skills.
Sounds to me like he does an excellent job too.
As with anything we undertake, applying lacquer takes some knowledge, but anyone can learn.
There is a wealth of this knowledge out there.
Let me refer you to this site.
http://www.woodcentral.com/russ/finish11.shtml
This article really tells it all, and is easy to understand.
Your question of "Is it something my husband should be able to attempt?", the answer is yes, armed with the correct knowledge and some practice.
And Casey there are 100's of places on line where we can learn about this.
Good Luck and great question.
Regards
Eileen