I'll leverage what Old Wrench said and add a couple of more thoughts. Get some good lighting for your spray area and set it up so you can clearly see how your coats are laying down. Rig up a good way to support your workpiece so you focus your attention on laying down nice even coats. I'm not an expert finisher, so whatever I say is just an opinion - I think how you apply the lacquer is more important than whatever the specific brand name might beĪ couple of things that have helped me to get better results (besides lots of practice ).
I also use SW Lovoc sanding sealer which is reasonably priced, builds pretty quickly, and sands easily. Using a good appropriate thinner for your lacquer does make a differenceįor cleaning spray equipment I use generic lacquer thinner - no point in pissing dollars away. The Behlen and Mohawk lacquers (pretty much the same products, I believe) are good and easy to use (they are the products I started out with), although after I started using SW Lovoc I've stayed with it - it's quite a bit cheaper and every bit as easy to spray with the same good results as Behlen or Mohawk.įor regular decent lacquer spraying weather I use R7K120 thinner - if the humidity is up a bit higher than I'd prefer, I use K27 retarder thinner. Starting out, I worked my way through a few different conversion spray guns (called HVLP but they really aren't) and ended up with good results, but the Fuji setup is just a lot nicer to work with - I can appreciate it's improvements over my other earlier setup. I recently picked up a Fuji HVLP myself - it's a really nice spray rig. I reduce my lacquer a small amount with the manufacturer's thinner except for the final coat which I reduce a lot.ĭon't know how it will work with your gun, but I would say Mohawk, Cardinal or Behlens are all good products. I've finished six or eight guitars with Cardinal and have been very happy with it - the archtop that is on my bench right now will get a nice tobacco burst in Cardinal lacquer and Colortone dyes. I buy a quart at a time, LMII pays shipping (unlike SM) and I can have the finish in a few days. Behlen seems to have gone away (I think it is now Mohawk) so I switched to Cardinal which I buy from LMII. I did switch to Behlen some years ago and used their lacquer, vinyl sealer and thinner with great results. I didn't notice, I just followed SM's schedule and everything work well.
#Behlen stringed instrument lacquer pro
We have a pro finisher here at the forum who says that Colortone has naphtha in the solvent mix which causes it to dry more slowly. I started using StewMac's Colortone - it was fine and I finished several guitars with it. I use generic hardware store thinner for clean up. I try to stay with the same manufacturer as far as lacquer, sealer and thinner since I know that there are some differences in the solvents in the thinners. I typically buy what is labeled as "instrument lacquer" which probably means I'm paying more than I should. No experience with the Fuji gun, I use a standard gravity feed detail gun and a small home compressor that shouldn't keep up (but it does). What are you guys using and where are you buying it.what sizes.etc?Īlso wanted to ask what are you thinning your lacquer with besides just regular box store thinner (Lowes, Home Depot etc), which I've been told many times should only be used to clean equipment or remove lacquer, but not to actually thin sprayed lacquer with.Īny/all advice or suggestions are greatly appreciated. I'd like to try them out, but I've had nothing but trouble trying to find them and none of the SW stores in my area have been helpful (including the local industrial/commercial coatings store) believe it or not.Ĭan anyone recommend a suitable replacement as far as clear lacquer and retarder for use with an HVLP sprayer? I have read and been told by many that Sherwin Williams LOVOC nitro clear and their K27 retarder are excellent and the way to go. I would also like to use something that is more cost effective and provides some kind of savings (however small) over buying rattle cans for everything like I've been doing. I'm looking for a new clear nitro gloss lacquer and (importantly) a good retarder/thinner to help my clear coats avoid blush and be as smooth as possible with little, to no orange peel if applied correctly. Just bought a new Fuji HVLP spray rig and switching over from using rattle cans for way too long.
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