Using Target Coating EM6528WP Bright White Pastel Water Based Spray Lacquer

[Drew Sanderson]

I am building birch ply caracas with poplar face frame cabinets for a playroom. What do you think is the best practice for getting the best possible finish from Target Coating EM6500 Bright White Pastel Water Based Spray Lacquer. I have never sprayed it before.

[Jamie Buxton]

Compared to regular unpigmented EM6000 or EM8000, the 6500 product is thicker. I've had to thin it just a bit for my gun (Accuspray HVLP), wheras the unpigmented ones spray without thinning. The other noticable difference is that the 6500 takes a little longer to dry -- an hour or two, instead of ten minutes or so, to get the point I can spray another coat on it.

[Drew Sanderson]

Do you just thin with distilled water? Do you do anything between coats? How many coats? How much coverage can I expect from a gallon?

[Jamie Buxton]

Do you just thin with distilled water? Do you do anything between coats? How many coats? How much coverage can I expect from a gallon?

I thin with tap water. My usual plan with waterborne finishes is to apply two or three coats without sanding. You might want to do something different if your coat is thicker than mine. Mine goes on with an Accuspray HVLP. The waterborne will raise the grain, and it will look awful. Let those first coats get hard -- maybe a day with the 6500. Then sand with 320 or 400 just enough to knock down all the little pointy stuff sticking up out of the finish. Then one more coat to finish.

[Drew Sanderson]

I hear ya about the grain raise with the water based ( Bourne? ) stuff. Preraising does not seem to really help that much either. It still happens. I'm with you on many thin coats. Thanks for all the info.

If anyone else wants to comment that would be great!

Thanks,
Drew

[Conrad Fiore]

Jamie,
Have you tried a thinned first coat as a sealer to lock the grain and sand that coat to cut the raised grain?

[Tim Sproul]

For opaque finish, I prefer to spray with B.I.N. primer and then tint EM6000.

The BIN primer is tinted dewaxed shellac so compatible with EM6000 and other Target coatings.

The raise grain issue (which isn't muh of a problem with BIN) I handle by applying 2-4 coats of Em6000 before knockin down any grain and dust nibs. I don't feel or see any difference compared to knocking down after each coat. It is less work though.

[Jamie Buxton]

Jamie,
Have you tried a thinned first coat as a sealer to lock the grain and sand that coat to cut the raised grain?

I've tried using just the first coat as the sealer to nail down the nibs, and sanding after that. But sometimes I find more nibs after the second coat. My thinking is that the one coat doesn't completely encapsulate the fibers, so after the sanding they're exposed to be expanded by the water in the second coat. So now I've shifted to applying two coats, then sanding. This seems to work a little better.

I'm not sure whether my coat thickness is the same as other folks, so you might get different results. I apply fairly thin coats -- just enough to flow out, but a long way from being at risk of drips on vertical surfaces.