You’ve been there, even if you don’t want to admit it -- that “perfect top coat” that suddenly looks hideous when it moves from the shop to its final resting place. What could you have possibly done wrong?
Most likely, you didn’t really look it over and simply assumed your brush strokes, wiping passes, or sprays were fully covering. Fortunately, the way to avoid this nightmare (before you have to attempt the dreaded “redo”) is simply shine a light on your project.
Take a bright shop light - I have several of the spring clip variety with the large metal bell-shaped reflectors - and position it so the light bounces off your work surface WHILE you’re applying the top coat.
As you can see above, doing so will reveal streaks and gaps during the application process. You’ll be able to see that, while you think you’ve perfectly overlapped and smoothed out coverage, you’re missing a few spots that will turn a beautiful piece into a ho-hum project.
