Thank you for all your advice... I am going to try the gum over without the pigment... perhaps this is what I have been looking for all along... simple solutions are often the best! Cheers.
1. Smuggle some Mohawk Clear across the Canadian border
2. Smuggle some Acrysol WS-24 across the Canadian border
3. Learn Japanese so I can read the Saito & Co. website and find out if I can order some suki-urushi or do I have to go to Japan and smuggle it across the Canadian border.
..... seriously though... has anyone tried these lacquers... I have high hopes for the urushi.