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Airbrushing a lacquer finish?

M

Mark Borosch

Joined
Dec 29, 2017
Messages
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Location
Winter Haven, FL
Airbrushing a lacquer finish?

Does anybody use and airbrush to apply a lacquer finish? I use the minwax rattle can a lacquer, but that is very expensive and sometime the nozzle gets clogged and spits lacquer.

Any thoughts, ideas, hints or techniques would be greatly appreciated.



Thanks
Mark
 
I think that you would have to be a production turner to consider that option. Otherwise, the cost and cleanup wouldn't be worth it.

I have been using Deft (non rattle can) lacquer for many years and have been happy with the results. I also use pre-cat rattle can lacquer, but the short shelf life can be a problem if you don't use a large volume.
 
Clean up can be a hassle. If you want to try it buy one of the inexpensive Harbour Freight air brushes. The problem I have with the one I use is the hose that goes into the finish jars gets clogged really easily. What I have been using lately is the inexpensive Harbour Freight touch up gun. They run around $20 if I remember correctly. My big compressor is down so I've been using my Grex air brush compressor. Had to rig up some adaptors to make it work but that wasn't hard. The touch up gun puts out a larger diameter spray which makes it better for platters and stools and larger projects but it's still excellent for ornaments. It doesn't clog as bad so I often just leave the lacquer in there for a week or more before I clean it. The Air brush needs to be cleaned immediately which isn't hard. I keep a seperate jar of lacquer thinner. It's not the air brush that clogs it's the hose that goes into the jars. If you wanted to use a gravity feed air brush you wouldn't have the clogging problem because you could easily just fill the cup the thinner and clean the brush. The problem with the gravity feed is it doesn't hold much finish so you would constantly have to refill it.
 
I don't see any reason that you couldn't use an airbrush for lacquer. Cleanup would be no different than any other product you put through the brush. My only thought would be the size of the piece you are going to finish. I'm finishing up an article for More Woodturning Magazine on airbrushing right now.
 
One of our local club members gave a presentation at his house spraying a lacquer finish with inexpensive Harbor Freight gear. (<$30 for gear, assuming you have a compressor and a Harbor Freight coupon) He sprays in his driveway and can do a complete finish on half dozen pieces in a half hour, including clean up. Learning about his method knocked my socks off.

He has a system that simplifies the clean up process and makes it quite feasible to apply lacquer to smaller batches. The process is so casual that it includes dumping poured but unused lacquer back in the original container, which shocked me. The expensive part of the process is the lacquer, but very little is used up and it apparently lasts forever in a closed paint can, which also shocked me.

The key may be the lacquer he uses, which is Sherwin Williams. Other lacquers might also work, but he's sticking with the one he knows gets the job done. My understanding is that Deft lacquer in a can is designed to be brushed and doesn't work well with a sprayer or his system. I regret that I have had the spray set up sitting on the shelf for over a year and not tried it yet, so I can't speak from first hand experience. (If this system sounds like something others would like to get details about, somebody get Joshua to let me know and we'll whip something up for the American Woodturner.)
 
Dean Center said:
One of our local club members gave a presentation at his house spraying a lacquer finish with inexpensive Harbor Freight gear. (<$30 for gear, assuming you have a compressor and a Harbor Freight coupon) He sprays in his driveway and can do a complete finish on half dozen pieces in a half hour, including clean up. Learning about his method knocked my socks off.

He has a system that simplifies the clean up process and makes it quite feasible to apply lacquer to smaller batches. The process is so casual that it includes dumping poured but unused lacquer back in the original container, which shocked me. The expensive part of the process is the lacquer, but very little is used up and it apparently lasts forever in a closed paint can, which also shocked me.

The key may be the lacquer he uses, which is Sherwin Williams. Other lacquers might also work, but he's sticking with the one he knows gets the job done. My understanding is that Deft lacquer in a can is designed to be brushed and doesn't work well with a sprayer or his system. I regret that I have had the spray set up sitting on the shelf for over a year and not tried it yet, so I can't speak from first hand experience. (If this system sounds like something others would like to get details about, somebody get Joshua to let me know and we'll whip something up for the American Woodturner.)
Click to expand...
I think that I would like to know more about it. Articles are nice, you can reference them back any time...
 
that's the spray gun I use Richard. You do have to play with the dillution and I add some retarder to try and get rid of the orange peel. I've always wanted to try a high dollar spray gun to see if it would be better but just can't justify it. I also spray out my back door. Humidity seems to cause me the most problems here in Tennessee. Seems I'm always playing with the right amount of retarder.
what I like about that gun is the ease of cleaning. I let the lacquer just sit in the gun for about a week if I'm doing a lot of work and spraying often. When I think it will be several days before I spray again I dump the old lacquer back into the can. (I use Benco from a local supplier, far superior to Deft in ease of spray, hardness when dry and less orange peel) Then I dump some thinner in the gun and slosh it around and spray a little. Dump that out put a little more in and do the same and that's it.
 
I use what might be called a bypass air brush. I got one at harbor freight and one on Amazon. The lacquer does not go thru a needle valve and clean up is very easy. I have been using Minwax brushing lacquer thinned 50/50 and have had good results. Clean up is a snap.
https://www.harborfreight.com/34-and-3-oz-airbrush-kit-62294.html
 
john lucas said:
that's the spray gun I use Richard. You do have to play with the dillution and I add some retarder to try and get rid of the orange peel. I've always wanted to try a high dollar spray gun to see if it would be better but just can't justify it. I also spray out my back door. Humidity seems to cause me the most problems here in Tennessee. Seems I'm always playing with the right amount of retarder.
what I like about that gun is the ease of cleaning. I let the lacquer just sit in the gun for about a week if I'm doing a lot of work and spraying often. When I think it will be several days before I spray again I dump the old lacquer back into the can. (I use Benco from a local supplier, far superior to Deft in ease of spray, hardness when dry and less orange peel) Then I dump some thinner in the gun and slosh it around and spray a little. Dump that out put a little more in and do the same and that's it.
Click to expand...
That sounds just like what our member described in his demo. Thanks.

Here in Montana, where chapstick comes in tubes for caulking guns, and the moisturizer label says "manufactured by Anchorseal", we have two conditions of humidity, "low" and "none". I'm pretty sure a retarder is not used or needed.
 
I use the Harbor Freight gravity feed gun that costs about $15.00 and added a regulator onto it. I am able to spray right out of the can but it is a challenge to get an even coat on a turning with compound curves. I have a glass jar that I put the used thinner into then when I want to clean I first use some of that then dump the excess and put a small quantity of clean in and then dump it into the jar. The last step in the clean up is to take the tip and filter off and store in the jar.
When spraying my threaded urns I have made a fixture using an old gear motor to turn the piece in steps for each pass of the gun until complete then let it run continuously til set.
 
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