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Water Based Lacquer

gbarcus

gbarcus

Commercial User
Jul 20, 2008
398
12
Minneapolis & St.Paul, MN
barcusbasses.com
Disclosures
Owner of Barcus Basses barcusbasses.com
#1
I'm going to do some experimenting with water based lacquer.
Stewmac has Infotech 7000hbl at $22.50 per qt and LMI has KTM-9 at $39.95 per qt.
Seeing the significant price difference, any experience using these different types?

Stewmac describes the Infotech as waterbase acrylic lacquer, but LMI describes theirs as a lacquer-like finnish.
 
#3
Target Coatings EM6000 lacquer

pretty much self explanatory, other than restoration, I use nothing but waterbornes now, clean up is wonderfully easy, health concerns are lessened, and with a little practice, even with my old time siphon guns and 6 hp compressor, it's very easy to spray, and the results are great without the blue tint you get from KTM 9....I know nothing about the Infotech stuff.

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check it out

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#4
I spray waterbase paint in the factory where I work for the model hobbyist industry and the stuf works fantastic.

Ease of use is the big selling point and quality of finish should be as good as the automotive catelyzed polys that I normally use to spray guitars.

The only issue would be durability but my experience tells me this isn't a real concern unless you plan to beat the hell out of your guitar and need a lot of dent and chip resistence.
:D
 
#8
you want a real world assessment, here it is, Waterbornes have a learning curve, Target has a great finishers forum with a Luthier specific area for how to best achieve proper finishes. I have always been a "by the seat of my pants" finisher since I started spraying cars back in 1980. Early waterbornes were a pain, and difficult to lay properly. The Target stuff is very close to spraying acrylic lacquer but still is a bit more finiky. Read the finishers forum at Target coatings website, and pay attention to what is being said, especially if you are using HVLP, those guys are very specific about tip size and spraying pressures. There are only a few of us using compressor based setups. You will like it once you learn to use it. Clarity is every bit as good as solvent based lacquers, and just as hard.

The 9000sc Urethane is even harder than the lacquer but takes a little more work to get a good finish without witness lines.
 
#10
Got some 7000hbl in the mail yesterday and started dialing in my sprayer. It has a 1mm tip, so I had do open up the flow a little more than I thought.
I love how this stuff has hardly any smell. Maybe now, my wife can get the downstairs bathroom back. :)
I remember one time I was spraying nitro and had the bathroom fan on and my wife was outside and she kept smelling it.
 
#11
Regarding durability, I had a bass built 12 years ago by a local builder who used KTM-9 from LMI and shot it with a compressor.

After ten years of steady gigging, the finish is still in remarkably good shape. It has held up extremely well. He used an amber tint when spraying, so there was no noticeable blue cast.

I've noticed in the last couple of years that there's a very slight cloudiness in the finish now that I don't remember always being there. When I say very slight, I mean VERY slight. You have to be right on top of the bass to notice it, and even then you really have to be looking for it. Because of this, I can't be 100% certain that it wasn't there from the beginning and didn't just escape my notice. Either way, it's there and isn't prominent enough for me to worry about.

Just thought this might be useful info for those wondering about the long-term results.
 

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