Does anyone have experience with Morrells cellulose spray lacquer.?
Is it any good? Any problems?
D
Is it any good? Any problems?
D
Spray lacquer
- Thread starter Democritus
- Start date
Help Support UKworkshop.co.uk:
Ollie78
Established Member
Not sure quite which would be the "cellulose" you mean, probably the pre cat.
There is water bourne, pre catalysed, or acid catalysed, the pre cat and acid cat both use cellulose thinners.
I have used them all at various points.
The acid cat is the best as it flashes off very fast and will pretty much dry flat and nice every time, the pre cat is second best and nearly as good.
Of course both of those are full of nasty chemicals and will need proper safety precautions.
The water based stuf is fine but a bit trickier (and slower) to deal with as it doesn`t flash off in the same way the others do, decent result when done but can orange peel if you are not careful.
Morrells stuff is generally pretty good.
Also depends what you are shooting it through, I have a Kremlin which I find the best I have tried.
Ollie
There is water bourne, pre catalysed, or acid catalysed, the pre cat and acid cat both use cellulose thinners.
I have used them all at various points.
The acid cat is the best as it flashes off very fast and will pretty much dry flat and nice every time, the pre cat is second best and nearly as good.
Of course both of those are full of nasty chemicals and will need proper safety precautions.
The water based stuf is fine but a bit trickier (and slower) to deal with as it doesn`t flash off in the same way the others do, decent result when done but can orange peel if you are not careful.
Morrells stuff is generally pretty good.
Also depends what you are shooting it through, I have a Kremlin which I find the best I have tried.
Ollie
It's probably just an older one-part nitrocellulose lacquer, like they still use on guitars because of the repairability and good hardness/clarity/warmth.
If it just says that it's a nitrocellulose lacquer and it smells sweet, yet very unhealthy, I'd bet that's what it is. A very forgiving finish as long as you don't lay it on so thick that it crazes....
..edit...just looked it up. Is this it?
https://www.wood-finishes-direct.com/product/morrells-nitrocellulose-spray-lacquer
If so, it's what i'm talking about. It's pretty hard to mess up nitrocellulose lacquer. It flashes off quickly to a relatively dry state and then will continue to dry for a long time.
Nitrocellulose lacquer is wonderful stuff - not a finishing expert, but the next question after defining it as that is really only the purpose of the lacquer and how much plasticizer there is in it. More plasticizer will make it slightly softer but less prone to cracking and crazing.
Cheers, guys.
DW , that’s the stuff.
I’ll give it a go, and see what happens.
D.
DW , that’s the stuff.
I’ll give it a go, and see what happens.
D.
Id watch out for the splattery finish.
The nozzle isnt ever that good and some of the material builds up in it so the propellant goes through faster than the material - result it more spits it out than sprays it in a fine mist. Result, Orange Peel city.
I'd say for spraying lacquer you need a proper spray gun with an appropriate needle.
The nozzle isnt ever that good and some of the material builds up in it so the propellant goes through faster than the material - result it more spits it out than sprays it in a fine mist. Result, Orange Peel city.
I'd say for spraying lacquer you need a proper spray gun with an appropriate needle.
wipe the tip with acetone if this occurs. Similar thing always happens with the zinnser shellac cans here if they're not used at once - they can end up streaming finish in any direction instead of spraying it (a damp alcohol rag fixes that, too).
But beyond that, nitro lacquer is so much cheaper in a liquid (like gallon cans) and doesn't suffer gelling like varnish or a short shelf life like mixed shellac that it's worth getting a low cost spray setup if it's going to be used often.
The other nice thing about it is it's evaporative and not curing, and the evaporation is solvent, so it doesn't really care much about being sprayed in cold weather.
Cost is something like $30 a gallon here in cans, and I've seen guitars sprayed with a "homeright" (airless) sprayer that looked great after wetsanding, which will be done no matter how good it is off the gun.
Too, there are custom tips for spray cans to choose pattern and improve fineness (they're male or female, though, so you probably have to have the can in hand already to see which one you need). Sellers of higher cost finishes in the US sometimes replace the stock can tips (spraymax/US2k finishes come to mind - probably a finish that shouldn't be sold to consumers and definitely not ever sprayed indoors).
Thanks again, guys. Much appreciated advice.
Not to rain on the parade of this - I saw something I thought would never happen. Low VOC nitrocellulose lacquer is now what's sold here. This change has happened with all of our naptha based solvent finishes (floor polyurethane) and some of the solvents, too.
I've ordered a can of watco nitro lacquer, but not sure if it is affected. I just redid my floors with a low VOC floor urethane (solvent) and it was very ...not good...compared to the old stuff. The combination of solvents in it isn't any less dizzying, I guess it's just better for the environment and it flashes off slower and the finish itself is much thicker.
It would take a chemist to know how each of these things is really changed (each new low VOC product) - some of the solvents, like mineral spirits "green version" are just half mineral spirits and half water. The effect isn't flattering.
FWIW, the spray cans here (in my state) aren't yet low VOC. A nitro that doesn't flash off quickly....I don't know. I guess this is how the world will be saved.
I've ordered a can of watco nitro lacquer, but not sure if it is affected. I just redid my floors with a low VOC floor urethane (solvent) and it was very ...not good...compared to the old stuff. The combination of solvents in it isn't any less dizzying, I guess it's just better for the environment and it flashes off slower and the finish itself is much thicker.
It would take a chemist to know how each of these things is really changed (each new low VOC product) - some of the solvents, like mineral spirits "green version" are just half mineral spirits and half water. The effect isn't flattering.
FWIW, the spray cans here (in my state) aren't yet low VOC. A nitro that doesn't flash off quickly....I don't know. I guess this is how the world will be saved.
