I just tried brushing lacquer for the first time. It went well enough, but I came back to the forum here to get some more education on the process. I’ve been a Minwax Poly finisher up to this point and have those kind of habits. I was surprised at the drying time. This is no brushing out material.
My question has to do with a mistake I made. When I was done applying, I left my brush in the lacquer thinner and forgot to clean it up. The next day I discovered my flap and was completely surprised that the brush had dried out while sitting in the thinner. I stripped the brush and recovered it so no real damage was done, but I couldn’t beleive that the brush dried out and hardened in the thinner. Can someone explain this to me? I have kept oil based brushes in solvent over a period of days many times for ongoing use and never had any dry out on me. What is it about lacquer that lets a brush harden while submerged in lacquer thinner?
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I'm a bit surprised about this too. But,there are lacquer thinners and there are lacquer thinners. The good ones have larger proportions of true solvents for lacquer, the cheaper ones, are mostly thinner materials that doesn't actual dissolve lacquer. I suppose if the true solvents in your lacquer thinner evaporate faster than the thinner, you could have such a problem. But, I can't say I am comfident about this solution.
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