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To get different sheen finishes you should always start with a high gloss finish, never buy a sheen-in-a-can semi-gloss or satin. You can always turn the gloss into a different sheen but you can't make a satin a gloss.

If you have any dust or runs in the shellac you can first wet sand lightly with 1000grit sandpaper. not too much or you'll sand through to the stain and have to start all over. After that you can use 0000 steel wool and paste wax (I use minwax) for a satin finish or automotive polish (I use meguires) for semi-gloss. Either way you go you should only be rubbing with the grain of the wood and only rubbing briefly, It's unbelievable how quickly you'll rub through to the stain. With the Satin finish you should only be rubbing a little at a time, then buff with a clean dry cloth to try and remove as much of the wax as possible. If you have excess wax on the surface take some of the steel wool and run cold water over it, then lightly run it over the surface - with the grain - to remove the excess. I then buff out with a bee's wax cream.

I found this method on the internet a long time ago and it works rather well, I like the results at least.

Here's a Brunswick I recently finished with the above satin method, but it could pass for semi gloss.





edited for bad grammar and spelling

I've always used filler for wood finishes in order to obtain the (piano finish look).

By using a darker filler (much darker) then your chosen finish stain, you will not only be able to achieve the final piano finish look but it will make the grain jump out with the aged look that is only possible by using filler.

The biggest pain in the ass about using filler is wiping the finished surface clear of the filler while keeping the grain loaded with the filler. Too much pressure will pull the filler out of this grain thus negating what you are trying to achieve.

I use a plastic squeegy with firm downward pressure to force the newly applied filler into the grain. Then you want to drag the squeegy accross the surface on a 45 deg. angle to remove the excess wet filler from the surface only leaving the grain loaded. Let it dry for a while..

Now comes the hard part.
Burlap is a good material to use when wiping the dried filler from the surface. If you need to you can use a little (very little ) thinner on the rag but you are taking a chance of desolving the filler in the grain and pulling it out. Also you don't want to make a sluggy slurry which will ruin the final finish. Just try to rub the remaining filler from the surface without disturbing the grain. Once again rub accross the grain not with the grain.

Once you are happy with the look, go ahead and apply you final finish coats over top. Use multiple thin coats to avoid runs and drips.
Once they are completely dry move on to the patina phase.

4/O steel wool is a refinishers best friend. I have restored many machines
and the final step is alway, always knock down the high gloss sheen with the steel wool and apply past wax and to bring it back with a buff.

For horns
Black lacquer dry so fast you can give multiple coats in a day. Once again I knock down the high gloss sheen but then take the additional step of using rubbing compound (not polishing compound).
Then follow up with wax and buff it out.

final results are fantastic.

o

blizz