Lacquer

ive got a can of the deft. I don’t have the ability to spray but I believe that it can be thined and sprayed. maybe someone else can confirm or refute this?

-- It's made of wood. Real sturdy.--Chubbs Peterson

Never sprayed Deft but have sprayed lots of Laquer. No problem. Use the old fashioned spray rig on your air compressor and then to your taste. Doesn’t take much thinner. Works great. I have a cedar chest in my house that I sprayed 48 years ago and it still looks as good as ever. Laquer and Johnson’s floor wax.

I have been using the Deft brushing Laquer by the gallon and have used the Earlex sprayer and it worked out just fine. The instructions say not for spraying but did it ayway and did not have any problems. Right or wrong I did thin it by 25%...... I also use a Apollo spray system as well but to be honest it is just quick to get the Earlex out and go at it….. Be sure to keep your gun in tip top shape by cleaning it after every use. It is a pretty darn good little sprayer for 300 bucks.

-- What we do in life will Echo through Eternity........

Deft lacquer is one of the best on the market and we use it often on everything. We buy it by the case.

We usually thin it anywhere from 10% to 50% depending on how we need to build the coats on a project, temperature and humidity.
For average spraying 10% is enough. We spray it with conventional and hvlp systems almost on a daily basis.

Some hvlp systems may choke it a little so more thinning may be necessary. At 10% reduction we put on five coats sanding between coats.

On the can it says not for spraying..that’s to get by the California VOC laws.

-- Bruce http://plans.testsitem3.info http://www.sawmillgirls.com

bruc, some good info there, Every time I sprayed it I was always thinking sooner or later something bad was going to happen to explain why it is not meant to be sprayed and now I know….. I thinned mine as you know and I was doing it right, thinking I might be doing it wrong but actually I was right….....HA

-- What we do in life will Echo through Eternity........

Deft lacquer is one of those finishes it’s difficult to mess up. We were installing a kitchen in a new home years ago before they put brushing lacquer on the can and we were watching the interior finishing guy spraying Deft on the moldings.

He was drunk as a skunk and singing when he was spraying the Deft. We were laughing at him and he would laugh back at us. Those moldings looked as good as any I’ve ever seen before the next time we saw them on the walls.

-- Bruce http://plans.testsitem3.info http://www.sawmillgirls.com

Deft is the old Nitrocellous lacquer, not the toughest stuff , but does well, and nothing makes wood look better, you can thin the brushng version and spray away. Because its a brushing lacquer , it means it has a retarder in it to slow the dry time, so go easy,. It does well, quite well indeed.

Thanks everyone. Lots of good info. I’ll pick some up and go at it. I’ll let you all know how it turns out.

-- "Courage is being scared to death -- but saddling up anyway."

Growing up in a body shop spraying polyurethanes, enamels, and lacquers, I do NOT enjoy brushing a finish. Lately I have been using a gravity fed spray gun from Lowes. While it is not the same quality as the high end professional guns I have used in the past, it has done well for me. I use Kwik Kleen vinyl sealer http://www.kwickkleen.com/product_info.php/kwick-seal-p-1154 and top coat http://www.kwickkleen.com/product_info.php/professional-lacquers-p-1150
I have been very pleased with the quality and they are about 1/2 the price of SW lacquers. Haven’t had a need to try the Deft. And as others have said, clean your gun regularly.

-- Rick

I use valspar brand pre-catalyzed lacquer to spray.
I have also sprayed Deft poly which works well too.
I prefer lacquer because it dries quicker.

-- Willie, Washington "If You Choose Not To Decide, You Still Have Made a Choice" - Rush

We use lacquer from Sherwin Williams. We also use M.L. Campbell lacquers. When a paint finish is required, we even use lacquer for the paint finish. One of my suppliers can color match a paint for us in lacquer based product. It is easy and fun to use with great results.

We do not sand in between coats. We apply approximately 3 coats of sand/sealer on and then hand sand, baby smooth. Then we top coat.

Agreed that the brushing Deft lacquer has retarder added to allow it to be brushed. We do not use that lacquer but I believe it would work fine. We often add retarder to our lacquers to help in the spraying process. In fact I would recommend having retarder on hand when spraying lacquer.

-- Jerry Nettrour, San Antonio, www.topqualitycabinets.net

Great info here, thanks for posting

-- It's Mic Keep working and sharing

One problem with lacquer:

If you use a fast drying lacquer in humid conditions it can “blush”. Blushing is a transparent milky white film that forms on the lacquer surface when the fast evaporating solvent chills the surface of the just applied lacquer and the humid air condenses on it. Think of dew forming on a lawn. Its the same process.

This can be prevented by adding a “retarder” to the solvent (lacquer thinner) that slows the evaporation. It can also be remedied once it has happened by waiting until a drier day and applying another coat or brushing or spraying lacquer thinner on the dried lacquer.

I would expect that Deft has been formulated to include a slower evaporating solvent. However other lacquers you may encounter may not be formulated this way.

Planeman

-- Always remember: It is a mathematical certainty that half the people in this country are below average in intelligence!

Sherwin-Williams one-part solvent Nitrocellulose and Acrylic are great lacquers. Don’t bother with a “sealer.”

-- Clint Searl.............We deserve what we tolerate