New PolyWhey Waterbased Finish

[Darryl Young]

Mike Collins (over on the OLF) started a discussion about a new waterbased finish from Vermont Natural Coatings called PolyWhey. Read about it here:

http://www.luthiersforum.com/forum/view ... &sk=t&sd=a

He seems very satisfied with this finish as do some others from the OLF that have tested it. He also mentions much later in the thread that there is a wipe-on version of the finish that seems to work well. So I thought I would at least mention the product here as folks are always looking for a clear, glossy, and safe finish and this might just fit the bill. Mike is an experienced luthier and a great guy so his recommendation carries a lot of weight.

I would sure like to hear from anyone that has tried it. I'm considering trying it on the 00 I'm building for my daughter.

[tippie53]

great topic. While I may be a traditionalist in my building and finishing Many of you have a different attitude. When you live in a condo you can't spray lacquer. Glad to see sharing of information

They accept orders for samples. I asked to try the clear satin.
-tommy

[Ben-Had]

Looks promising. John P may like this as he gets blue with TC.

[johnnparchem]

Looks promising. John P may like this as he gets blue with TC.

I did good with the old ColorTone WB which I was told was EM6000, it was just EM7000 that turned blue. Although polywhey seems intriguing, when I looked at the posts in the above mentioned forum one of the test applications sure seemed a bit blue to me. Maybe I am just a little sensitive to that color now.

I am even considering Nitro. I do have a properly vented spray room with an explosion proof exhaust fan. I have a gallon of EM6000 that I am going to try on a test sample first.

[Ben-Had]

Looks promising. John P may like this as he gets blue with TC.

I did good with the old ColorTone WB which I was told was EM6000, it was just EM7000 that turned blue. Although polywhey seems intriguing, when I looked at the posts in the above mentioned forum one of the test applications sure seemed a bit blue to me. Maybe I am just a little sensitive to that color now.

I am even considering Nitro. I do have a properly vented spray room with an explosion proof exhaust fan. I have a gallon of EM6000 that I am going to try on a test sample first.

I'm using EM6000 now and like it a lot but if i had a booth like yours it would be nitro all the way. It's too much trouble in my booth which is in the garage so I have to open the door to vent. Really only feasible in spring and fall too hot here in summer and cold in winter.

EDIT: PS - the EM6000 seems to have a slight blue on RW but also seems to fade after awhile.

[B. Howard]

I would like to point out that water based does not equal harmless. Most people think that because a coating is water based and not solvent borne and lacks the strong odor associated with it that it is a safe product. While it is a safer product one must still take all the same health precautions while spraying it, respirator and so forth. The chemistry needed to keep a polymer chain dissolved in water and the cross linkers required to turn it into a solid coating when applied are still hazardous to ones health, especially if atomized mist is involved. So please don't think because it doesn't make you dizzy that it is completely safe.

[Ben-Had]

True and I wear the same protection when spraying either. But it isn't explosive like nitro and can dissipate from my shop area through the air exchange of my ventilation system without explosion proof fans.

[Darryl Young]

Very good point Brian. I too use a mask when spraying water base products (well, anything). In fact, being water based makes stuff easier for your body to absorb so one has to be careful. Thinning with water and water/soap cleanup are big benefits (I always use distilled water for thinning and even cleaning my spray gun). I follow up cleaning my spray gun with alcohol some other nasty stuff from Lowes tha tI can't remember the name of at the moment.

On the blue coloring, one poster said he thought he did see a slight blue tint but he didn't have good lighting in his shop and it was overcast at the time. He later posted an update and said that on a fair, sunny day he took it outside and there was no blue tint.......so either the blue was caused by his lighting or had faded. He believed it was the lighting in his shop. If it is truly a urethane (as opposed to acrylic lacquer) then I doubt it has a blue cast. In KTM-SV, SV stands for Spar Varnish and my understanding is it is some type of urethane and it has absolutely no blue cast.

I do like that one can complete finishing/sanding/buffing in much less time using water based products. I could do it in 1 week with KTM-SV and it sounds like you can do it 2-3 weeks with the PolyWhey product.

If someone didn't have spray equipment, I thought the wipe-on product was interesting.

[B. Howard]

Looks promising. John P may like this as he gets blue with TC.

I did good with the old ColorTone WB which I was told was EM6000, it was just EM7000 that turned blue. Although polywhey seems intriguing, when I looked at the posts in the above mentioned forum one of the test applications sure seemed a bit blue to me. Maybe I am just a little sensitive to that color now.

I am even considering Nitro. I do have a properly vented spray room with an explosion proof exhaust fan. I have a gallon of EM6000 that I am going to try on a test sample first.

I have yet to see a WB acrylic that did not have a blueish cast when compared side by side to a conventional solvent finish, this includes the new industrial catalyzed water bornes as well. Adding some amber toner helps but side by side I can still see the differences.