How much lacquer for a body

[fuzznut]

What's the typical amount of lacquer used for a body if spraying from a gun?

 

[swarfrat]

I havent cracked open my first quart yet but... I got a feeling if you're asking, you and I are going to use more than Tonar by the time I reach a finish I'm happy with.

 

[Tonar8352]

I usually do 3 bodies out of a gallon depending on the type of wood.

 

[Cagey]

I usually go through about a quart and a half for a body. Seems like a lot, but you end up sanding some off between coats, so between that and overspray probably less than half of that ends up on the body. That's why it would be frightening to me to have to pay for rattle cans of Reranch. There's a lot less material in those cans than it appears. Probably only take a couple/few bodies doing it that way to finance a decent HVLP spray rig that'll return better results.

 

[Tonar8352]

Have you looked at the cost of a gallon of Seagrave lacquer recently? The best instrument lacquer out there; it only cost $130.00 a gallon before shipping. OUCH.

 

[Cagey]

No, but I'm not surprised.

 

[fuzznut]

Thanks everyone, I did buy 2 quarts and used 3/4 of a quart already. Started blushing at the first build coat so had to wait a week to get some blush remover. Seems I'm on schedule.

 

[Cagey]

If it's blushing, it's either way too hot or too humid to be shooting the mixture as is. You may want to get some retarder to slow down your reducer a bit.

 

[fuzznut]

If it's blushing, it's either way too hot or too humid to be shooting the mixture as is. You may want to get some retarder to slow down your reducer a bit.

It was near 90F that day, humidity was low early that day but started creeping up. It was very mild blushing, and I just stopped after that. I did buy Behlen retarder and am using it from now on in the mix.

 

[Cagey]

When you mix your next batch, use less retarder than you might think you need, and shoot at something other than your target body. You're aiming for a mix where it doesn't blush, but doesn't stay fluid so long that you start getting runs/sags. At 90°F, the acetone wants to boil off really fast, so condensation that forms in the spray from the pressure change leaving the gun gets caught in the lacquer. That's what causes the blush. The retarder will raise the boiling point of the acetone, so the mixture stays liquid long enough for the moisture to escape. But, if it stays liquid too long, being as thin as it is, it'll be very easy to get runs/sags.

You can always add more retarder if you're still getting blush with the first mix, but it's not as easy to speed things up if it's too watery. You'd have to add straight lacquer, which might change colors if you're using them, and might also leave you with excess mixed but unused product.