Spraying lacquer

[durwood]

Garfield,

If the weather fines up try spraying try it BUT if the lacquer goes white stop immediately if you go over it a second time you will trap water under the clear.

Unless you need to do this job immediately leave it till it fines up.

[garfield]

I'm gonna spray it under my pagola.... that way it shouldn't get wet

[garfield]

So i'll let it dry over night and give her a light sand tomorrow, and let you know how it turned out using thinners this time

[growl]

Hi Garfiled,
What brand of lacquer are you using and where did you get it from? I have been thinking about spraying so have followed this thread.
Greg

[echnidna]

Mirotone Precat lacquer is as good as you can get.
Though Wattyl makes one (from their industrial department)
So do Haymes but really pricey

(2-pacs are quite dangerous so stay away from them)

[growl]

Thanks Echindna,

Where do you get it? Bunnies do not sell it and there is not much else here in the Illawarra. What sort of place sells it?
Thanks

Greg

[echnidna]

Ask your local panel beaters where they get their paint.

[MacS]

I don't know if this was mentioned in regard to your spraying problem, but it sounds like the air hole in the air nozzle is plugged up, and that is why your getting that type of spray pattern.

A thin wire pulled down and up the hole may clear it, you also can soak the air nozzle, it might be a good idea, now that you have the "correct" thinner if you clean the entire gun.

Good Luck

[garfield]

A thin wire pulled down and up the hole may clear it, you also can soak the air nozzle, it might be a good idea, now that you have the "correct" thinner if you clean the entire gun.

Good Luck[/quote]

Yeah I'm gonna give it a good clean before i use the correct thinner this time

[garfield]

Hi Garfiled,
What brand of lacquer are you using and where did you get it from? I have been thinking about spraying so have followed this thread.
Greg

Greg, I'm actually using some cork and wood tile lacquer. Its probably not ideal to use for furniture and stuff, but as i said I'm only lacquering a camp kitchen so i thought this would be good enough for this job as i got 10L of it for nothing.

But for all of you out there who are interested I'll let you in on a little secret i found out today. A bloke I'm working with at the moment used to work for feast Watson and he tells me that you can buy a tin of lacquer called "premium" it is made by feast Watson. it even comes out of the same batch, but is just poured into the different tin, not that nice shiny expensive black tin. so keep an eye out for it. apparently its in a green and white tin.

cheers
Geoff

[garfield]

I forgot to mention the punch line..... it's supposed to be half the price

[durwood]

Hi garfield,

I have been away for a few days.

The problem with spraying the lacquer in wet weather is not that you may get it wet by being in the rain.

The paint is affected by the moisture in the air and comming from the compressor if you don't pass it through a proper filter to remove the moisture from the compressed air.

As the thinner evaporates it draws the heat out of the air, this makes the moisture in the air cool down and it falls onto the surface of the lacquer.

As the two don't mix you get what is actually "dew" on the surface and the lacquer gets a milky look. Its easily seen on some colours and clear but can be missed on colours such as white or other light colours. If you paint a second coat on top of the first one you trap the moisture in between the layers of lacquer.

The last layer can be rubbed back and compounded but in clear you get a poor result and the clear doesn't have the nice glass like appearance to see the grain which you are after.

The big problem comes later when the temperature warms up and the water trapped under the lacquer tries to evaporate. It can't get out and it expands and the lacquer ends up looking like it has goose bumps. This are called "humidity blisters" and is a major problem in all fast drying finishes. The remedy is to strip the surface back below where the moisture is which usually means the beginning.

Thats why painting was often not even attempted on wet or hot humid days. It was not worth the risk. No good workshops do such work today unless they have suitable equipment, which means at least heated spray booths or maybe if not heating lamps and retarder thinner. Sometimes you also need special refrigerated air line connections to cool down the air (which gets hot when you compress it) and even with all the right gear it can still be a problem, especially in the tropics where it can be impossible to use lacquers without getting blisters.

Let the weather get back to normal and it not a problem

Greg,

If you need any supplies try B & L Supplies Waverley Drive Unanderra. They are just down the road from you.

[garfield]

G'day all,

Just a follow up to let you know how I got on because of your help.

I sprayed the lacquer today (It's taken a while I know) And I did it with the paint thinners instead of metho, and I mixed it at about 50%.

All I can say is what a difference!

So basically just getting back to you to say thanks to everyone that helped with my thread,

Thanks Heaps

[kcasser]

2

Put on a coat leave it for about 10 minutes repeat till you have 5 coats on.

.

Sorry if this has been covered elsewhere - I'm new here and need help! Are you sanding between coats here? or are you just spraying another coat every 10 minutes on top of one another?

Thank you! BTW, what means 2pac? pc? ac?

[MacS]

"Paint Thinners" is white spirits / mineral spirits the both are the same solvent, they are not "lacquer thinners", they are a slower evaporating and a weaker diluting solvent, they are not the right solvent to use.

Nitro Lacquer and Lacquer Thinners dry very fast, but are known for blushing (turning white) in the warmer weather with high humidity. That is why you should only spray one coat at a time, and let it dry. Then spray your next coat and allow it to dry. Heavy or double coats take longer for the solvent to evaporate, and usually will trap the moisture in the air, causing the lacquer to turn white and blush.

Good Luck