# Acetone as a lacquer thinner. Ratios?



## PineSucks (Aug 3, 2015)

Got tossed into the mix in the finishing dept today and will need to work solo.

Rather than pester the experienced guys in our shop, I was hoping to tap the LJ hive mind for some advice.

I need to finish a piece of white oak. Doing 3 coats of sealer and 3-4 coats of lacquer. I just got done the second sealer coat and wanted to mix up my lacquer so I can minimize my downtime.

I have acetone and mineral spirits available as thinners. I'm thinking acetone is a better choice here, but I dont want to screw up the ratios. How much should I thin this out? I'll be using a Hvlp gun @about 90psi spraying sher-wood lovoc medium rubbed lacquer.

Little help?


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## pintodeluxe (Sep 12, 2010)

AAhhh! Your words are hurting my brain!

Use lacquer thinner as a solvent for lacquer. Thin 10-15% to spray it.

Even an inexpensive gravity-feed HVLP conversion type gun only needs 30-35 PSI at the gun to atomize. Using 90 PSI at the gun would be like cleaning up the Fall leaves with a jet engine.

Why did you choose to use a sealer? There are many valid reasons, like contaminated wood or product incompatibility issues. I don't use sealers because lacquer is it's own sealer. It is also quite easy to scuff sand. A decent gun can lay down a nice finish in 2 coats. Three if it's a tabletop.

Good luck with your project.

FYI:
Denatured alcohol is the solvent for shellac
Mineral spirits thins oil based stains
Lacquer thinner is the solvent for lacquer
I don't use acentone (nail polish remover), toluene (thins Briwax), or Xylol / Naptha (thins Plasti-Dip) in furniture finishes.

For the love of all that is holy don't put mineral spirits in your cup of lacquer. It will congeal and turn the mixture into something that looks like a combination of vanilla pudding and vasoline.


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## PineSucks (Aug 3, 2015)

Thanks for the response. I figured I would just let the new guy flag fly on tjis one in the hopes of a quick correction.

Spraying at 90psi because thats where the guy who usually sprays sets his guns. I'm in a booth running 150fpm of ventilation according to the vaneometer on the wall, so I assume it has something to do with that. 
*edit*: 
Line pressure is 90psi, when the trigger is pulled, I'm about 35 psi, so this sounds about right.

I used a sealer because I was told to and since I don't know enough about finishing to fill a hvlp spray cup, I complied.

I'll check in the fire cabinet for some legit thinner.


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## RichT (Oct 14, 2016)

It's probably too late to help, I thin brushing lacquer by 50% with half lacquer thinner and half acetone. In other words, 50% lacquer, 25% acetone, 25% thinner. The only problem using acetone only is its evaporation rate is very high.

I seal before spraying lacquer with a 50% cut of Bulls Eye Seal Coat. The reason is I experienced cratering once due to contamination in the wood. You can't see it, and once the cratering starts, it's a bear to get past, so I'm just playing it safe. Flexner recommends a light cut of shellac as well as a seal coat before spraying lacquer.


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## PineSucks (Aug 3, 2015)

> It s probably too late to help, I thin brushing lacquer by 50% with half lacquer thinner and half acetone. In other words, 50% lacquer, 25% acetone, 25% thinner. The only problem using acetone only is its evaporation rate is very high.
> 
> I seal before spraying lacquer with a 50% cut of Bulls Eye Seal Coat. The reason is I experienced cratering once due to contamination in the wood. You can t see it, and once the cratering starts, it s a bear to get past, so I m just playing it safe. Flexner recommends a light cut of shellac as well as a seal coat before spraying lacquer.
> 
> - RichTaylor


Thanks for the response. We typically dont brush lacquer in the shop. Ended the day with some orange peel on the last coat, but tomorrow's another day and I aim to correct this with 2 more coats with a scratch coat if need be.


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## RichT (Oct 14, 2016)

Sorry for the confusion. It's called brushing lacquer, but I thin it for spraying. Out of the can, it's too thick to spray, that's where the lacquer thinner and acetone come in. I use an old Fuji Q4 HVLP unit that's served me well for many years. I've never even tried brushing on lacquer. Something tells me here in the dry desert, it might not go too well.


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