Fish eye cure

[Fren Asken]

I'm re-lacquering an old headstock and even after sanding it clean I'm getting fish eyes in certain areas, but not others. I've tried sanding it and then shellacking it and it didn't help. I was thinking maybe acetone would remove any contaminants that might still be lurking. Would that work?

[Barry Daniels]

No!! Acetone will melt a lacquer finish. Clean the surface several times with mineral spirits using new rags each time. Then apply a shellac seal coat before applying more lacquer.

[Eric Baack]

What are you spraying it with. You may have contaminants in your gun

[Fren Asken]

There is no finish on the peg head right now so I wa thinking I could clean the bare wood with acetone. I've tried mineral spirits and naphtha and neither seemed to fix the issue. I've sprayed and sanded off lacquer several times because of this.

[Barry Daniels]

In that case, the acetone might be worth trying. You might also try a water based cleaner such as an ammonia or soap based solution. My understanding is that the best approach is to get the surface as clean as possible and then get a good shellac coat providing a complete seal.