Nitro Lacquer.....???

[Dennis Peacock]

What's up with the big box lacquers being a poly based lacquer???? I had no idea that poly can be a "lacquer".
Educate me....Please. :D

Also...I'm looking for a local supplier that I can buy a good quality lacquer from. Pittsburgh Paint says that they carry a Gemini Pre-Cat Lacquer. I know nothing of this product and I want to know if it will dry hard enough for a guitar finish. :D

[Art Mann]

As far as I'm concerned, "poly based lacquer" is an oxymoron. Coating manufacturers can call it whatever they want but they are changing the definition of what is traditionally known as lacquer. Nitrocellulose is the traditional lacquer formulation. There are so called lacquers based on other chemistries, some of which are even water thinned. My experience with "water based" lacquer is that it is not good for my applications.

[Jim Becker]

I didn't know the "big boxes" even sold lacquer, outside of maybe Deft in a spray-bomb...it's not exactly a "consumer safe" product if it's a solvent-based product. I don't know that I'd use a different product for this kind of project than I would for anything else I finish. I've been quite happy with the EM6000 I spray. And vendors like Target, General Finishes, etc., all have a variety of finishes that offer different levels of "durability".

[Keith Outten]

Dennis,

I purchase my Nitro Lacquer from Sherwin Williams. With a really good quality sprayer and using several light coats you can get a finish that is harder then Chinese arithmetic.

I use Deft rattle cans for small plaques and junk jobs.
.

[roger wiegand]

I've used the Behlen String Instrument Lacquer to good effect. Can't say it's better or worse than any other nitrocellulose lacquer, but it's held up fine on instruments I made 35 years ago. Comes in a rattle can now. (not knowing it "wouldn't work" I used to brush it on. Ignorance can save a lot of hassles in some situations.)

[John Coloccia]

Tried and true is McFaddens....now owned by Seagraves. You can get it from Stewmac. I kind of like Cardinal lacquer, but I gave an unused gallon to Mike Sherman, and he ran into some problems with color fading. The lacquer was beyond it's expiration date. I really liked the Cardinal and didn't run into any of those issues, but I hesitate to recommend it until I've had a chance to try it again and convince myself that it was related to being expired or one of the other issues Mike had mentioned to me.

If you want a sure bet, you won't go wrong with Stewmac's Seagraves lacquer.

I don't really like Behlen's, to be honest. Seagraves (i.e. McFaddens) is so much easier to work with. It just powders off when you sand it. Really nice stuff, and pretty much the go to lacquer for a very long time before they were bought out by the evil empire.

edit:
Geez, Mike...I still feel awful about that! When we do that trip up to Berkshire, I'll buy you a nice top and a beer!

[Dennis Peacock]

What about using Shellac ????

[Justin Pfenning]

I used the Stewmac Seagraves and had good results. My only gripe, was a $35 can didn't go very far. I built a Telecaster, and used the entire quart on the body alone. I'm no expert on finishing, I'll say that right away. I likely sanded off quite a bit while level sanding. This was my first spray that wasn't a rattle can. I'm temped to try Behlens or Sherwin Williams next time (lots of builders seem to be using SW over on the Telecaster forum), to see if the value is better, and results are the same. The Seagraves was very thin straight from the can, and required no thinning, so the quart of material was just a quart. I purchased the Seagraves lacquer thinner also, assuming it would need to be thinned, so that was another $15 pretty much wasted. It sure did polish up nice though.

http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t23/pfenningv/Mobile%20Uploads/9065789D-4361-4B32-9D9D-C4A25E731888_zpsqvvdeimx.jpg (http://s156.photobucket.com/user/pfenningv/media/Mobile%20Uploads/9065789D-4361-4B32-9D9D-C4A25E731888_zpsqvvdeimx.jpg.html)


Justin Pfenning

[Art Mann]

What about using Shellac ????

I have not found shellac to be a particularly tough finish. It probably won't hold up very well if you actually play the guitar a lot.

[Mike Dowell]

Precat IS nitro. It's a nitrocellulose based product that has the added catalyst system that causes the film to cross link and develop additional resistance properties. I spray nitro and precat but to be honest, I'm going to stop using precat because I don't think it's any tougher than nitro. It may be slightly more water and chemical resistant, but it's no more scratch resistant and it can't be easily repaired.

[Dennis Peacock]

Mike and Art,
Thank you for your imparted wisdom. I appreciate it. I've read where several luthiers are using thin polyurethane now on their custom builds with very good success. We don't know exactly what we are going to use/try...but we are strongly considering all options. :)