Finishing gear for waterbased lacquer

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Phil
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Joined: Mon Aug 30, 2010 11:23 am
Location: Nova Scotia, Canada
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Finishing gear for waterbased lacquer

Post by Phil »

Hello everyone! Been a while since I was on the forum. Anyways, looking to upgrade my spraying setup. Currently I am using a hardware store $30 spray gun with a 5 gallon compressor and am using Emtech EM6000 waterbased lacquer. Its done ok but not great and I know most of that is due to my tools. The compressor empties quickly and can't keep up with the gun. The gun is unpredictable and one spray session will spray great and the next coat the spray pattern is all over the place. I am looking to upgrade. I'm thinking a larger 20 or 30 gallon compressor and a decent gun worth a couple hundred dollars will be a huge improvement. Any recommendations as to compressor or a particular model spray gun (and tip size)? What are you using?

Thanks in advance for any suggestions.
tippie53
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Re: Finishing gear for waterbased lacquer

Post by tippie53 »

I use a HF touch up gun and that worked very well
it is tricky as you need the larger nozzle . Play with it a bit
I like the HVLP units

you tube has lots of videos that may help.
John Hall
Blues Creek Guitars Inc
Authorized CF Martin Repair Center
president of Association of Stringed Instrument Artisans
http://www.bluescreekguitars.com
carld05
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Joined: Mon Mar 19, 2012 4:19 pm
Location: Forest Ranch, CA

Re: Finishing gear for waterbased lacquer

Post by carld05 »

Read Brian's advise from the links I posted in the thread below this one, "Nozzle size for lacquer?" You might be able to make your stuff work ok. Wash your gun out after every coat with waterbase too. It can clog it up quick unlike solvent based finishes.
Phil
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Joined: Mon Aug 30, 2010 11:23 am
Location: Nova Scotia, Canada
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Re: Finishing gear for waterbased lacquer

Post by Phil »

Yeah I've found a lot of info on youtube the past few days but most of the reviews and information tends to me more automotive related. I have found some info though that smaller compressors can still do a good job on guitars because we're spraying a fairly small area compared to something like a car.

The one option I have been considering is upgrading my compressor and wait to see how my gun performs with a good air supply before committing funds to a more expensive gun. There seems to be a lot of guitar finishers that use fairly inexpensive guns! I'm going to ask the same question over at the OLF because I know there are some guys over there using EM6000.
Phil
Posts: 238
Joined: Mon Aug 30, 2010 11:23 am
Location: Nova Scotia, Canada
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Re: Finishing gear for waterbased lacquer

Post by Phil »

carld05 wrote:Read Brian's advise from the links I posted in the thread below this one, "Nozzle size for lacquer?" You might be able to make your stuff work ok. Wash your gun out after every coat with waterbase too. It can clog it up quick unlike solvent based finishes.
Thanks, I'll take a look at Brian's article!
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