Lacquer

[Keith Outten]

Keel,

I agree with Phil. I have used Deft laquer for small jobs but it just isn't the same. It won't build as fast and doesn't have the really beautiful luster that Sherwin Williams products provide. I guess it has something to do with both the pressure as Phill said and the amount of solids in the material.

I can't say for sure whether the wood stove is a problem. If you have a large shop and the distance from stove to finish area is considerable it might be OK. Someone else may know more about the dangers than I do as my shop has central heat and air. The issue Phil mentioned is probably the main concern in that a spray gun will lay down a very wide pattern at higher pressures. The Laquer will fill the space very quickly. I use a good face mask and filters, the air becomes unfit to breathe very quickly in my 24 by 36 foot shop.

Although I do use Deft from time to time for lower quality jobs I will switch to a small touch-up gun or an airbrush and spray Nitro Laquer when I want the best quality finish on small jobs as well.

[Steve Clardy]

Now you know why the industry and self employed cabinet makers like me use lacquer. Great stuff.
But I do use waterbase poly for bathroom cabinets.
Lacquer isn't the best when in a moist enviroment, running shower, no vent fan, etc.

[John Hart]

I'll speak to the wood stove issue a bit and really, this is a common sense approach. The lacquer has the potential to create an explosive atmosphere...but it will take a lot. The wood stove has the capability of igniting that atmosphere....but it will take an open flame to be introduced all at once. If the stove is closed up and the lacquer fumes are building to a dangerous level, then you would have to open the stove after the dangerous level is acheived. If the stove is closed up, the fumes will migrate over to the stove and creep into the various orifices and cause microminiature explosions that you can not detect and the chain reaction that is necessary for the "big boom" will not occur.
This is the configuration of the old miner's helmuts of long ago. They had a flame as a light and they were in an explosive atmosphere. But the little screen in front of the light, would allow oxygen (and fumes) into the light chamber, but the microminiature explosions occur at the screen...not toward the outside. 'Course, in the case of the miner accidentally breaking the screen on the front of his helmut.......well....boom.

[Keel McDonald]

John, Keith, Phil,

Thanks for the info. Crazy as it sounds, I sorta like living. Going KABOOM is just not something I look forward to. Keith, you asked about the size of my shop and the relation to the spraying area. I have a 24'x24' shop and the stove is on one end, the spray area is across on the other side. I'd say about 15-18' apart. It sounds like maybe it would be a good idea to just "tuff" it out and wear more clothes while spraying.