Finishing question (Lacquer)

[Pierre]

I'm finishing a table top made from Ash. I sprayed one coat of sanding sealer and multi coats of Lacquer. This is the first time I use lacquer in finishing. It seems though a couple of thing are happening. The finished product first of all dries quick. This is great, but I have a couple of areas on the table that are not shiny. It's almost as if the finish is drying to fast and with the overspray from the gun it's hazing the previous pass. So I figured I would cut the finish with 2 parts Lacquer and 1 part thinner. It sprayed easier but I still have one spot that is not as shiny as the rest. What do I do? Would a HVLP sprayer fix this? I'm using around 30 to 40 PSI with a traditional gun. Or should/could I polish it to a nice sheen and what would I use?

Any comment would be appreciated,

Thanks

[Bob Bowles]

Instructions with the gun I got suggested first pass be at the near edge so overspray would be reduced.

[Charlie Campney]

If it is humid where you are maybe you have got a moisture blush. This is not at all uncommon in this humid weather since lacquer solvents are normally quite fast evaporating and the rapid dry tends to cool the surface a bit. When the drying surface cools below the dew point you will get moisture condensation on the surface and that will result in a cloudy (or even white) film. If that is what you are getting, a blushing of a lacquer you need to reduce it with a lacquer retarder, a solvent or solvent blend that's much slower than conventional lacquer solvents. The retarder of choice in the deep south is called "Butyl Cellosolve" (Union Carbide's copyrighted name for the common solvent "Glycol EB"). Most people in the business call it by the Union Carbide's name for the solvent.

Good Luck

[Bruce Rowen]

If it is indeed drying to fast you need a retarder in the solvent. Back when I sprayed a lot of cars with lacer, I'd use a solvent that was designed for the air temperature I sprayed at. Basically the solvent was considered "slow", "medium", or "fast". Slow was used at higher air temps (greater than 85 if I recall correctly) The Fast was for something like 70-80 and medium was for 75-85. A bit of overlap. The price per gallon was only $2-3 more per gallon than the hardware store stuff.