Target Varnish vs. Lacquer

[Ed Gibbons]

What is the real difference? Why would you use one vs. the other?

Thanks.

[Bill Davis]

Your question is a good one. For me I have been helped tremendously with my questions about finishing by Bob Flexner's super book on the topic "Understanding Wood Finishing". It doesn't just sit on the shelf but is a tome I regularly refer to with my ongoing questions. It's becoming dog-eared. It will surely answer this question you pose and many more.

[Scott Holmes]

Varnish and lacquer are two different types of finish. Lacquer is an evaporative finish meaning once it dry it's dry there is no "curing" . When and if you re-introduce the solvent; it will redissolve, albeit slowly.

Varnish on the other hand is made from oil and resin. Cooked in the absences of oxygen then a chemical reaction takes place and the new substance is varnish; no longer oil, no longer resin. (FYI poly is a type of varnish not it's own catagory) These are reactive finishes, the thinner evaporates and then the chemicall racation continues and the finish "cures" about 30 days or so.

Then there are te water-borne (WB) finishes... they are not "water based" which would mean meaning made from water; beer is make from water. WB are actually acrylic, some have a trace amount <5% urethane resin in them. They are coalescing finishes; the water is merely a thinner to help it flow or spread thin. The acrylic is PRE "Cured" the coalescing is the term used for the pre-cured acrylic to stick back together. Acetone and windex will pit or damage most WB finishes.

OK that's all from me, I not very a fast typist.

[Jim Becker]

Water borne finishes are all acrylics. What Target and others do, is to formulate different finishes to emulate certain properties of their namesakes. The EM6000, for example, and like it's predecessors, USL and PSL, are engineered to have lacquer characteristics such as "burn-in" where a new coat of finish will melt into and become one with previous coats. The conversion varnish is engineered for additional toughness, just like it's namesake in the non-water borne world.

Personally, I stick with the EM6000 for the kinds of projects I do, but wouldn't hesitate to use one of the other Target products if a project would be better served by it.

[Matt Meiser]

A friend who I really respect said he recently switched to the varnish because it has more oil-like yellowing characteristics.

[Jamie Buxton]

...Water borne finishes are all acrylics...

I think that's an oversimplification. Many of Target's finishes contain multiple resins -- acrylic plus something else. They have one with polycarbonate resin (EM9300), another with polyrurethane (EM9000), and another with alkyd (EM2000). They don't tell us what the proportions are between the resins, but I can tell you that the EM2000 smells a great deal like a traditional solvent-based varnish, so I think the alkyd fraction is large.