Lacquer Spray Paint

[JoeLee]

Does anyone make lacquer spray paint in an aerosol can any more?? All I can seem to find is enamel or urethane types.
Everybody used to make lacquer. Some companies still have it but in limited colors.

JL.................

[elf]

https://www.ruddcompany.com/brands/rudd-wood-coatings/products/

[JRouche]

I have a few cans of spray lacquer made by Zynolyte. JR

[polaraligned]

I use Mohawk products. I purchase directly from them, but they have distributors also.

https://www.mohawk-finishing.com/products/wood-touch-up-repair/aerosols/

[john hobdeclipe]

+1 on Mohawk...good stuff.

[dian]

what do you guys call lacquer and what is meant by enamel? i have been wondering forever (linguistical question). if i look it up, i see no difference, both terms can be used for different kinds of paint.

[JoeLee]

I've never heard of any of those companies. Their products aren't in any of my local stores.

Dian, typically lacquer is the faster drying of the two. Perhaps thinner in viscosity. etc. etc.

JL.................

[CCWKen]

And, lacquer never goes bad. Even when dried in a can (pint, quart or gallon), all you have to do is add lacquer thinner and shake to dissolve. I still have about 1/2 gallon of black lacquer and a few partial quarts of various colors. Most cars from 1926 to ~1986 were painted with lacquer paints.

[JoeLee]

Ken, that's true, and a lacquer paint used on those cars chalked out pretty fast. It wasn't very durable.
I have dozens and dozens of lucite acrylic lacquer in pints and quarts from the 70s, all still good, some just need to be thinned a little bit.

JL.....

[Fasttrack]

My local Home Depot carries Rustoleum lacquer in clear, black, and white. Rustoleum also makes a red, blue, yellow, pink, and turquoise colored lacquer. Might be able to special order through HD.

I've used the clear and black lacquer on a number of projects from 1880s door hardware to wood bobbles around the house and I've been happy with it. Performs like a lacquer should - fast drying, great hardness, and a gloss that acrylic enamels just can't seem to replicate without buffing.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Rust-Ole...5830/100195918

https://www.thepaintstore.com/Rust-O...er-p/19048.htm

[Fasttrack]

what do you guys call lacquer and what is meant by enamel? i have been wondering forever (linguistical question). if i look it up, i see no difference, both terms can be used for different kinds of paint.

I think there is a fair amount of regional variation and ambiguity in terminology but my understanding is that lacquers are fast drying finishes that harden purely through solvent evaporation. An example (which is often categorized as it's own thing and not in the family of lacquers) is shellac. Shellac is basically a resin byproduct from insects which is dissolved in ethanol. As the ethanol evaporates, the resin is left in a thin, protective layer. If you were to dip the part in ethanol, it would dissolve the shellac and you could theoretically reapply it somewhere else. Same thing is theoretically true with a lacquer. Lacquer thinner not only thins lacquer, but also dissolves dried lacquer.

An enamel, on the other hand, may be oil or water based, but it takes a much longer time to harden. While the evaporation of the solvent is part of the hardening process, my understanding is that there are monomers suspended in solvent which interact with each other as the solvent evaporates and bond (polymerize), creating a hard, protective layer. If you were to take the same type of solvent / thinner that the enamel paint was made from and spray the part after it was dry, the enamel might soften (depending on the chemistry of the enamel) but it wouldn't dissolve it. Or, said another way, once enamel paint has dried in the can, no amount of paint thinner will dissolve it and yield a usable can of paint because the components have already polymerized and formed a new molecule. OTOH, with lacquers and shellacs, depending on what other gunk is used in the finish, you can just add the appropriate solvent and still have a usable can of finish, like CCWKen mentioned.

[Bob La Londe]

Its not a true lacquer I do not think, but I just had a spray can of clear gloss acrylic lacquer delivered to coat resin master molds to prevent or reduce silicone reaction with the master mold.

[Tim The Grim]

StewMac sell lacquer guitar paint in spray cans. They also have lacquer in a can you can mix their pigment into for custom colors.

https://www.stewmac.com/SiteSearch/?search=lacquer

[polaraligned]

Nitrocellulose lacquer is the original lacquer, and sprayed on everything from Ford model T's to furniture (where it is still used today). Over the years better formulations have come along like acrylic lacquer in the earlier days (into the 80's), and catalyzed lacquers in more recent times. The catalyzed lacquers harden not only by solvent evaporation, but also by molecular cross linking which makes the finish much more durable. One characteristic of an earlier non-catalyzed lacquer is that it is readily dissolved by the carrier solvent and each coat melts into the previous.

[Rich Carlstedt]

The "Nitrocellulose" term is the key..........That is a true Lacquer...... Others are not , but are modifications
The only one I am aware of is Plastikoat
One of the keys IMHO is when they say "dries in 20-30 minutes'----that means it is not a true lacquer in my opinion

https://www.plastikote.com/products/...uer-Paint.html

Rich