Warming lacquer for spraying?

[Mike Dowell]

I spray lacquer - all the time. I spray nitro and pre-cat and I usually prefer to reduce it a lot -30% or more. I'm using a turbine HVLP (earlex 5500 to be exact) and today in my shop, I sprayed orange peel. My shop tstat is set to 63F but over the weekend it was at 50F so even though when I came in this morning I put the tstat at 63F and warmed the place up, everything inside it was probably still 50F or close to it(such as gallons of lacquer).

I loaded up my sprayer as I always do and sprayed orange peel. The cup just felt cold. So, I put 2 and 2 together and realized that 30% thinned at 70 degrees is completely different than 30% thinned at 50 degrees. So, I stuck my spray cup in hot water for 5 minutes. It seemed to spray much nicer (although I already had a good peel going).

These are my observations. I'm wondering if you all ever warm your lacquer for this purpose or, if any of you feel like reflecting on my experiences today. I love hearing from you.

[Brian W Smith]

We have a nice little single burner "hotplate".......N.I.B.,estate sale,a whopping 5 bucks.

It gets used in several ways,including warming products.It's not just your gun that was cold,as you also mentioned your finish was cold.One thing a lot of folks don't "fix" is that the item being sprayed is cold.Admittedly wood products are not nearly as susceptible as metal(which is REALLY bad in this way),but it does happen.And the more technical the finishing job is(exotic,oily woods,specific coatings)the more likely the products temp is going to affect the outcome.Another;stick your finger in some mineral spirits and hold it up.....now compare that to say some acetone or lacquer thinner.Notice the difference in temp?Generally,the quicker a material evaporates the colder it'll shoot.Best of luck with our temps,it's 'sposed to be nice this week.Was upper 50's here yesterday.

[Mike Dowell]

A hot plate... Nice. How do you warm the piece to be sprayed? Im trying to be creative here. Any "perfect" temps? 70?

[John Coloccia]

Guys who are experienced spraying lacquer with rattle cans will warm them up in warm water as well, so what you did was very normal.

[Mike Dowell]

Excellent!

[Brian W Smith]

Yes,we use a pan of water on the hotplate...........but remember,steam=humidity.Although not an absolute(negative) because of winter.Buy an IR temp gun!!!

If you have no way to measure?....what are we doing heating something as important as a finish?Buy an IR temp gun,it isn't just for finishes.Shoot an abrasive wood planer/edge sander belt/wood sometime(and then decide if air cooling can increase the feed).Best 75$ we ever spent.Ranks right up there with dehumidifier/s.

[Brian W Smith]

WRT temps.

We live by,rightly or rongly,concrete(as in,the stuff your shop floor is) data.....70* and 70 % humidity,adjust mix accordingly.BUT!!!!!That's what we have "settled" on.Those numbers could be "whack" for other shops/locations/equipment.But again,how are YOU measuring?And what is YOUR metric?

[Tony Joyce]

Remember these are my experiences.

I spray a lot of pre-cat lacquer, I spray kitchen and bath cabinets for guys who don't want to do the finish thing. Here in the NC Piedmont its been in the 30's & 40's a lot lately when I'm finishing. I do not heat the equipment or the lacquer. While my shop has heat my finish room does not because of the exhaust fan. The surfaces I spray are stored in the heated area(note it's not heated at night). I was using thinner because of the temps, but I have discovered that the product I use lays down flatter in I don't use any thinner. My opinion(not an expert) is the thinner causes faster drying because of the rapid evaporation(I do have air moving in the spray area all time I'm spraying) thus not allowing for the lacquer to flow flat.

As I stated these are my experiences only, others will have differing opinions. I tend to do what works for me.

Tony Joyce