Nitro or poly?
- Thread starter Patrick
- Start date
Keyser Soze
Senior Member
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- 206
Poly is an almost absurdly broad term. Water based vs. oil, wipe on vs. spray vs. gel, catalyzed or not, acrylic mix or straight urethane, etc...
That said. Water based products are easy to work with, especially in non-vented situations. Oil base products smell a bit but are about the easiest and most reliable truly durable finishes (true oil finishes are easier, but offer zero protection) available to the DIY amateur. Poly tends to be easy to apply but hard to correct - each layer is a separate physical entity and wet sanding/rubout will usually leave witness lines. Likewise poly is more durable but harder to repair. (this is the general pattern for most all finishes - durability and ease of repair are inversely related.) Urethane based poly will be slightly yellow and grow more yellow with age (water based acrylics are often color clear and tend to remain so forever.) Catalyzed urethanes are pro or semi-pro materials and require serious spray gear.
Most amateur poly products are both ultra reliable and easy to work with, but they do not look much like lacquer - they look like DIY poly. For guitars I like the look and feel of lacquer or shellac, but both are fairly fragile and I reserve them for natural wood finishes. For painted finishes I use rattle can acrylic - quick (the stuff literally dries in seconds), easy and very durable (but forget repairs - just sand it off and refinish.)
For most of my furniture products I use either shellac or a brush on water based poly acrylic (from General Finishes) and I highly recommend it.
That said. Water based products are easy to work with, especially in non-vented situations. Oil base products smell a bit but are about the easiest and most reliable truly durable finishes (true oil finishes are easier, but offer zero protection) available to the DIY amateur. Poly tends to be easy to apply but hard to correct - each layer is a separate physical entity and wet sanding/rubout will usually leave witness lines. Likewise poly is more durable but harder to repair. (this is the general pattern for most all finishes - durability and ease of repair are inversely related.) Urethane based poly will be slightly yellow and grow more yellow with age (water based acrylics are often color clear and tend to remain so forever.) Catalyzed urethanes are pro or semi-pro materials and require serious spray gear.
Most amateur poly products are both ultra reliable and easy to work with, but they do not look much like lacquer - they look like DIY poly. For guitars I like the look and feel of lacquer or shellac, but both are fairly fragile and I reserve them for natural wood finishes. For painted finishes I use rattle can acrylic - quick (the stuff literally dries in seconds), easy and very durable (but forget repairs - just sand it off and refinish.)
For most of my furniture products I use either shellac or a brush on water based poly acrylic (from General Finishes) and I highly recommend it.
