Ryan, another thing not mentioned on using lacquer for a finish. Lacquer needs to cure before the final polish... lacquer can take about a week to totally cure depending on temp and humidity, remember that each coat of lacquer dissolves and adheres to the coat under it, therefore it cures from the bottom up... if the lacquer finish is nice and smooth you should be able to get a real nice high gloss finish by using Automotive polishing compound followed by Novus or Hut Plastic polish, but you need to let the lacquer cure...
I use lacquer a lot on my higher grade scroll saw projects that are done in figured woods... I learned this lesson the hard way.. LOL... had to sand the finish down to almost bare wood and redo it on a 24x38" project in figured redwood... what a PIA... expecially making sure all the sanding dust was out of all the little cut lines.. Lacquer is a gorgeous finish, IF you don't short cut the system and that means letting it cure completely..