Technical Lacquer Paint Questionnaire

i was just given an almost full gallon of nitrocellulose black. are good thinners still available?

 

I can build you a good thinner, or give you a recipe if you have multiple types of solvent around.

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Yes, we will have a fast medium slow and extra slow. But every time I look at California VOC requirements it seems tuff to accomplish. The solvents that will be compliant will be very similar to the new low voc base coat reducers that are out now. And we will offer a regular 5.0 voc lacquer as well with decent price reducers. The compliant reducers are very expensive to me, but probably not out of the norm for most. (Around $65/gal).

That's good to know lacquer dulls a bit. How long do you wait to sand and buff? Next day?

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When I first sprayed the lacquer clear, it had reaction to the base coat and made a complete mess. But using the lacquer clear with our toner system was very impressive, just need to find the right balance, and will have a 4:1 or 2:1 ratio with solvent. Just too much going on at one time, building a very unique primer system right now that is 2k but mimics lacquer primers sandability. But that's another topic. Lacquer testing fills the voids of down time which isn't much lately. Our goal is to have it ready by SEMA, but we have a ton of oem Paint codes that have to be matched and verified as well.

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Buffing lacquer depends on whether you want a production finish, or a show job. Lacquer keeps drying and shrinking for months! I believe the usual wait time for a production job was 2 days to a week before sanding and buffing, though you can physically do it the next day. But it will dull down more. I used to wait a month on real nice paint jobs. But It also pays to do 5 coats or so, wait a couple days, block it out, and put 5 more on, and so on, to eliminate most shrinking and sandscratch swelling, and get a super smooth, straight paint job. Remember, sanding is not as hard to do with lacquer, so it isn't as tedious as urethane.

 

I will do test on sand and buffing soon then. And test for shrinking, I can fix that to a degree especially in higher humidity areas.

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I have always waited a month. In my limited experience, it cuts nicer and gives a better looking finish if you wait longer.

 

I agree with that on most all finishes. However some get so hard (like our polyurethane) that you can hardly buff the scratches out.

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I'm going to disagree with this. Hardness of the finish, not to be confused with durability, is a finisher's friend. The durable nature of 'thanes make the polishing difficult for reasons beyond surface hardness. Up here the finisher calls it "die back" because the next morning we find some sanding marks returned and show as a dull surface. I'll go on record to say that the scratches stood back up. PPG 2021 is really good for that. If it's not completely sanded to the finest possible finish buffing is almost a waste of time. A wool bonnet and old school compound creates enough surface heat to soften the top layers, sand scratches lay down, once cooled they return in spite of how hard it was polished. I never saw die back in lacquer until it was reformulated in the 90s. I mentioned earlier in this topic how I gave up on it for that reason. I don't know the specifics, but I liken this action to different plexiglass types. One can be polished like old school finishes, one simply burns under a buffing wheel. My choice of clear for finish work has the ultra hard surface quality needed for a sharp reflection, it also has less modern gloss and more of the 'classic' imaging we sought in lacquer custom work. Our new crop of 'thanes are like plexiglass vs real glass. One bends without breaking, the other little to no bending, and for the durable nature it's a good thing. Custom work is a different set of challenges. No shame in my game, I'll also state again that I'm not well versed in chemical make up and deep finish science. That's what we have guys like you for.

 

Really good analogy. I like that, describes it very well.

 

Living in the People's Republik of Kalifonia I will likely be prosecuted for reading this thread. Jerry's goons are on the hunt.

 

I was crossing the border yesterday, as I was sitting in line in this day and age of surveillance (you know, its for our own good, just to keep us safe and all, nothing to do with monitoring our political beliefs, or curtailing our rights and freedom of thought and stuff), I was thinking "I wonder if his screen is showing my internet searches for the last few days??!!"

 

Down here snatch'n up all our parts eh!

 

Well hell, ifin you guys are foolish enough to leave 'em laying around...

 

hey George what parts did you get?

 

Dont want to hi-jack, I'll send a pm.

 

Not all of us agreed!

 

careful guys, we are probably crossing the line here...DO NOT get this thread shut down, PLEASE!!

 

OK so what's the receipe

 

All compatible solvents for lacquer are MEK, ACETONE, N BUTYL ACETATE, TERTIARY butyl acetate you can dose what you have with ethyl benzene to help slow it down but a little goes a long way. A high end polyurethane reducer will work as well, but if it contains any type of alcohol DO NOT USE!

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Bringing this back up for a question, Paint Guru. Can I add something to the common lacquer thinner obtained at places like Lowes or Home Depot to slow it down or make it a quality thinner for automotive lacquer paint? If so, what would you add to a gallon and how much?

 

What happened to good old retarder?

 

We aren't supposed to discuss politics on here.☺

 

Read the label if you can read Then Thank A Teacher

 

Looks like it came out of a museum. I would prefer to find something available. Can you still buy that stuff?
Oh yeah, notice I am from Alabama, so no, I can't read. The teachers here don't teach that.

 

The only Huntsville we have around here is a Federal Prison.
I have some old stuff that I never thru out. You never used a lot of retarder, but you kept it on hand for really hot days or high humidity to stop blushing. Just never got rid of it. Paint Guru gave you a option of using Ethyl Benzene.
O just remembered you can't read.

 

Nope, can't read. but I can spell threw correctly....☺☺

 

You got me, spoiled by auto correct.
And I look like I came out of the same museum.

 

Go to Cullman Al, Astro Paint, they have Mr0885- excellent product to use. They are a customer of mine and close to Huntsville.

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New Jersey is very strict about this kinda stuff, prolly not far behind Cali but there is a company here listing NC and Acrylic lacquers..............