Nitro cellulose

[MICKYG]

Howdy everyone.

Do any of our forum members know if you can spray Nitro cellulose lacquer which i believe is common in the furniture industry, over the normal solvent based acrylic lacquer without any adverse effect as a finishing coat?. I am planning on spraying a white lacquer which will be diluted considerably to produce the transparent effect over a claret ash timber bass guitar body. The idea being to show of the grain.

I have noticed that Metholated spirit now in some brands is 95% ethanol which would be ok for a medium for water based finish, all ideas welcome.

Regards Mike.

[durwood]

Mike,
You can spray NC lacquer over Acrylic lacquer buy why would you when acrylic lacquer clear is far superior?

As you are going to apply white acrylic you can immediately follow up with the acrylic clear. BUT if you use NC lacquer it would be advisable to wait at least a few weeks before you apply it as Acrylic lacquer leaches solvent for a long time and it may cause the NC which will dry at a diffewrent rate (faster) to delaminate.

Using the clear acrylic will provide a more stable result and the actual application ( Number of coats etc) is exactly the same process. It will be a lot easier to purchase also. Acrylic Lacquer would last in exterior use for 10-20 years NC lacquer about 6 months if you are lucky.

Unless you have a really good reason why you want to use NC there is no point.


Lacquers dry by evaporation, take it easy in application, you can always put more material on but if you do it too fast its a lot harder to take it off. So spray on one coat at a time and walk away for at least 10 minutes. The longer the better.

If you put a coat onto an already wet coat you straight away make it difficult for the one underneath to dry out so let each one dry before adding the next. That way all the coats will be fairly dry instead of having a thick wet soggy film which may then get blisters or pinholes in it from the solvent trying to escape. ( less chance of getting runs too)

You will find you will get a better result with your white wash coat if you mix the white with some of the clear rather than just diluting the colour. Try both ways first on a test piece and if you are using automotive acrylic white use the normal white not the high opacity one as thats exactly what you are trying not to do.

[Lignum]

Thanks Durwood. Once again you are providing the best finishing advice on the forum. I have learnt so much from your posts. Thanks for always taking the time to explain thoroughly, thanks heaps

[MICKYG]

Thanks Durwood, all comments noted and the reason for this idea was that the less paint you put on a guitar the better. I will do some pondering on the idea before proceeding. I have used acrylic in the past and with good success.

Regards Mike.

[martrix]

Thanks Durwood. Once again you are providing the best finishing advice on the forum. I have learnt so much from your posts. Thanks for always taking the time to explain thoroughly, thanks heaps

+1.

have a greenie.

[MacS]

Let this be noted,

There are many kinds of of Lacquers and Acrylics, you need to really know what you are using when you try mixing these two different coatings. There are lacquers that are compatiable with Acrylics, and others that are not, the big reason is because the solvents play a big part in all coatings.

If your going to be using "white" in your finish, be it as a white basecoat, toner, or shading lacquer, you would be better off using the Acrylics rather the the NC, which has an amber caste to some degree, whereas, the Acrylics are "water clear" coatings and do not amber for a much longer period of time.

Mac S