Nobody at the local lumberyard and Ace Hardware have ever heard of lacquer thinner that contains a retarder. They carry ordinary lacquer thinne–but not lacquer, because “nobody uses it anymore.”
Guess I’ll have to buy these things online. What are some brand names of lacquer and slow-drying thinner?
Janet
Replies
DWREAD,
No surprises here. These folks haven’t heard of this stuff because they haven’t heard of this stuff. The “nobody uses it anymore” line is just that… a line.
Lacquer retarders are readily available, sold, and used everyday. Check with Mohawk Finishing Products.
http://www.mohawk-finishing.com/
A body shop supply house should be able to accomodate you... they speak retarder. I've recently completed a project where I needed to slow lacquer due to high ambient temperature, and was able to get it from them...worked great!
PJ
Sherwin Williams has but it took a little digging to get it. Most stores only carry a midrange thinner. Contact the manufacturers tech line to get the specs on what's best for your use
Sherwin Williams has a product called K-27 (as mentioned above)
Actually it's R7-K27 for the retarder if you want to get technical
1-800-331-7979 Sherwin Williams technical line to find out where to get it
Thanks for the correction. I've just gotten used to asking for K-27 and they know what I want. As a matter of fact, I used some today and it's a great product!
The big orange box carries a fairly amber lacquer by Parks. I use Lilly waterwhite bartop nitro which is available at several paint stores in my area. I usuually get it from DeVaul. Nobody seems to carry slow thinner but the better (geared more to the pro) paint stores do carry retarder. Just like with blushing, you can always hit it w/ straight thinner to get mild orange peel to flow out. Deft is a brushing lacquer which by definition is retarded to allow brush marks to flowout. I sprayed it with good results before I found Lilly.
John O'Connell - JKO Handcrafted Woodworking
Life is tough. It's tougher if you're stupid - John Wayne
Lacquer thinner is a mixture of various solvents each of a proprietary nature. The mixture of a retarder thinner is such that the evaporation rate is slower most likely because the manufacturers are substituting other solvents for the quicker evaporating and cheaper alcohols.
While retarders minimize blushing (the trapping of moisture within the finish) they also make the finish more prone to runs, drips and sags. On flat surfaces like table tops, retarders increase flow and thus produce a smoother finish and also can definitely reduce orange peel.
If you are spraying lacquer, make sure that you regularly drain your compressed air tank -- any water in the tank/system will increase blushing potential.
Thank you for the information on Mohawk and Sherwin Williams.
The stuff I had to settle for from the lumberyard is Minwax Antique Furniture Refinisher--"Dissolves old finish in minutes without stripping." I'll return it and buy the Sherwin Williams products.
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