Why Not Spray "Brushable Lacquer"?

[Cagey]

I'm curious about this can of Deft "Brushing Lacquer" I got by mistake about a month ago. The can's instructions say quite emphatically "Must not be sprayed". Why not? What will happen?

And if you know that, maybe you'll know this: rather than spray numerous coats, levelling along the way, why not brush on 1 or 2 coats, levelling in between, then a final sprayed finish? Seems like you'd get a faster buildup while using less material and doing less work.

 

[line6man]

Is it too thick, and thus, would clog easily?

 

[Cagey]

I did a little more research, and found answers on the furniture finishing forums.

As it turns out, nothing bad will happen per se. Deft is just trying to save you from yourself. What makes it "brushable" is that it's been pre-mixed with a somewhat heavy-handed retarder component so it doesn't dry so fast. That allows you to overlap brush strokes without disturbing what you've just done. Normally, lacquer dries much too quickly to be brushed on. The extended drying time also allows the finish to self-level better.

The downside is if you try spraying it, you're much more likely to get sags/runs, which makes baby Jesus cry.

I also learned that HVLP sprayers allow for a wider range of temperature/humidity during application, albeit with the caveat that lower temps exacerbate the drying issue. On the plus side, you don't have to worry about blush because there's very little compression involved. For instance, my rig runs at 2.2psi. So, there's little or no temperature/pressure change to the air and you don't run into the dew point so easily or end up with water droplets in your air.

So, I don't know what I'm going to do. I have a couple more reasonable days left, but I'm sure they're the last of them. We're into the second week of November already, and this is Michigan.

 

[Cagey]

Just a follow-up... I decided to spring for a good brush and give that a shot. I have mixed feelings about how it turned out.

I'm glad I didn't try to shoot it. This is some saggy, droopy shit. It's like painting with thin maple syrup. It definitely flows out, so on the flat surfaces it's great. It's nice and glossy and level, as if you'd already paid a lot of attention to it with a buffer. No brush stroke artifacts, no tears, none of that nasty stuff.

But, it doesn't know when to quit. It's like it never gets a grip. It doesn't congeal at all for an absurdly long time. So, the vertical surfaces want to sag like... something really saggy. I was able to mitigate a great deal of that by picking it up with the brush, but eventually you run out of time with that trick because it starts to "skin", and you can't touch it any more. So, I'll have some sanding to do.

But, I expected to have to sand back anyway, so that's not the end of the world. What's disturbing about it is the body style. It's a VIP body, which has all sorts of curves and sharp edges. Sanding on that terrain is just begging to break through to the wood. I know because I've done it several times already. Thank the FSM I had the forethought to keep a jar of the stain mix I used to color the thing, as it's highly unlikely I'd be able to reproduce it exactly. There's a lesson in there, if you're paying attention...

On the plus side, while I have no way of measuring, I think the coating on there is about 3 times what you'd get spraying it, and there was no mess or heavy concentrations of airborne toxins. Lot to be said for that. So, I'll knock this back tomorrow to level out the sags, put another coat on it, then depending on how that works out, maybe even spray a final in the late afternoon. Hang it for a couple weeks, and see where we are.

Not the best picture since it's in unnatural garage-level light, but the flash shots were ultra-nasty. Any way, you can get an idea of where it's going.

Incidentally, that was shot probably 40 minutes after it was painted and it was still tacky enough to take permanent fingerprints.

 

[bagman67]

Very interesting.  I have a burn-through or three on my green Tele body from the wet-sanding adventure, and I've been thinking about how to repair the final coat.  Like you, I held on to a small jar of the staining mixture, but don't want to spray to repair it (and can't likely do that until I get an unseasonably warm day, which even in Northern California doesn't happen as often as you'd like in November.  Mebbe this is the answer...

Peace

Bagman

 

[Cagey]

The spots I had to repair had bare wood showing, which was almost totally unexpected. But, I stained it before sealing it - that is, I used a clear sealer/filler/clear coat. It's the wood that's stained; none of the coverings are tinted. So, just a dab of the original stain on a piece of towel, rub the bare spot, and it's more or less gone. It's a thin spot now, finish-wise, but you can't tell by appearance that I did anything.

 

[AutoBat]

Looks gorgeous so far.

 

[Cagey]

It's a body I bought from DudeSweet back in April or so. It needed to be refinished so he foolishly took $3.50 and my immortal soul for it. Beautiful piece of work, construction-wise. Chambered Black Korina with a one-piece back and the bookmatched top has a curly figuring, which you don't see very often in Korina. Don't know what I'm going to do about a neck yet. There's a fine specimen in The Showcase I'd like to use, but I just had to replace the damned TV so it'll probably be gone by the time I get to the point where I'd be able to give it a good home. But, it should work out well, one way or another.

 

[dudesweet157]

It's a body I bought from DudeSweet back in April or so. It needed to be refinished so he foolishly took $3.50 and my immortal soul for it.

Lol, you did get a steal, but I'm glad it's getting a better home, and I know you'll give it more love than I did.  I put it together twice, but it just never got played.  It sounded and played great, but I just prefer my single coils I guess.

 

[jackthehack]

I did an axe with the Deft brush on lacquer, the trick to applying it to curved surfaces like a guitar body is to use a REALLY good (expensive) fine haired brush and apply it as thinly as possible, i.e., after dipping the brush in the lacquer keep wiping it back against the can rim until there is little of the lacquer left on the brush.

Applied thusly you should not see runs/sags/drips.

 

[bagman67]

I did an axe with the Deft brush on lacquer, the trick to applying it to curved surfaces like a guitar body is to use a REALLY good (expensive) fine haired brush and apply it as thinly as possible, i.e., after dipping the brush in the lacquer keep wiping it back against the can rim until there is little of the lacquer left on the brush.

Applied thusly you should not see runs/sags/drips.

Hey, Jack, would you be able to point the curious-minded among us to a photo of said axe?

Thanks for the guidance.


Bagman

 

[Cagey]

I did an axe with the Deft brush on lacquer, the trick to applying it to curved surfaces like a guitar body is to use a REALLY good (expensive) fine haired brush and apply it as thinly as possible, i.e., after dipping the brush in the lacquer keep wiping it back against the can rim until there is little of the lacquer left on the brush.

Applied thusly you should not see runs/sags/drips.

I've got a good brush and I tried that at first, expecting it to be some runny stuff, but ended up having to overwork the finish. I know the brushable stuff gives you some slack, but there's a limit. I imagine it's one of those things that takes some time and practice to get right. I'm impressed enough that I'll try it again, though. And like Bagman, I'd like to see some pictures of your results.

 

[Cagey]

Just as an update... this is the neck that's going to go on this one. Finally pulled the trigger on it today, out of fear somebody would buy it out from under me.

Not that Indian Rosewood necks are hard to come by, but check out the grain on that fretboard! That's very un-Rosewood-ish. Had to have it.

It's also a 24 3/4" scale. I'm having gold 6100s put on it, and I'll fit it with a black TUSQ nut and a set of Schaller mini-lockers. Should be a fun piece mated up with all that Limba.

Match that up with this...

Add some gold here and there and a wicked pair of 'buckers... and I should be able to take over the world! Muahahaha!

 

[AutoBat]

Insert my standard hardware finish comment here.

 

[Cagey]

I understand your aversion to gold finished hardware. But, the simple fact of the matter is, it looks good in some applications. This is gonna be one of them. I am blessed with the physical characteristics and habits that allow for that sort of finish without punishment. At least, not quickly. Granted, eventually it'll look bad. But, it'll take enough years that I won't mind replacing what looks worn if/when it becomes unattractive. Meanwhile, it'll be pretty nice.

Or, maybe you think it's unattractive to start with from the word go. I understand that, too. I have an aversion to every damn household product being infused with lemon scent. Drives me nuts. I almost want to get a cat and leave the litterbox unattended for a month just to teach everyone a lesson. But, that would be a foolish thing to condone, just as dismissing gold outright is for you.

The long and the short of it is, there's no accounting for taste. Maybe mine's bad, but it's mine.

In any event, we both can't be wrong so I must be right <grin>

 

[AutoBat]

I bet it will still look pretty good even if you mixed chrome, nickel, gold & black hardware.

 

[Cagey]

Maybe. But, my aesthetic sense won't allow for it. I even already have some of the parts in either chrome or black, so it's gonna cost me to stick to my guns.

 

[pabloman]

That body is just screaming for my ivory EMG 58's, a gold toggle, gold football jack plate, gold jack, gold cavity cover screws, amber speed knobs and gold Schaller strap locks. Coincidentally all those parts are bagged up and just dying to move to Michigan.

 

[Cagey]

Not a big fan of EMG pickups, particularly the actives. But, I could be tempted if my risk factor was low enough that replacing them wouldn't piss me off.

 

[AutoBat]

"What do you mean EMGs?"