Lacquer or Waterborne Polyurethane wood finish?

[fishrdan]

It's time to build an entertainment center and I'm not sure what type of finish to use on it. I've used a whole slew of finishes in the past; lacquer, polyurethane, tung oil, etc.,,, worked in a cabinet shop for 3 years.

I built my son a set of dressers 7 years ago and used waterborne poly, found it a whole lot more difficult to spray than lacquer,,, frickin bubbles I'd spray the piece and bubbles would appear in the finish. From what I remember, they would start to appear as the finish dried, not immediately noticeable after the finish was shot, but several minutes later. And I was careful not to get air trapped in the finish while stirring it in the can. Anyone else have the bubble problem while spraying Polycrylic waterborne poly finish?

Anywho, back to the original question, what have you guys used recently for finishing furniture, what has worked well? I want a clear (or nearly clear) finish as I'm going with a clear finish over birch.

I'm tempted to try the waterborne polyurethane as it's $20/gallon and crystal clear, while lacquer has a ting of yellow and would probably cost $75 for sealer, lacquer and thinner.

What'cha think?

 

[Mark_VTfisherman]

Re: Lacquer or Waterborne Polyurethane wood finish?

I personally like the golden coloring I get from varnishes and urethanes on light wood. Waterborne stuff always looks like there is nothing on it to me.

Having said that I would go with the acrylic poly over the lacquer.

I assume you are using an actual low-pressure HVLP setup and not a high-pressure-to-HVLP kit? As far as the bubbles go, that is probably entrained air from spraying. The air starts to collect together in the surface, makes a bubble, but before it can pop and level out, the fast-drying nature of acrylic poly dries the bubbles in. What you need is something that will not only slow the drying a little bit, but also help it level out better. I have heard of people adding dishwashing liquid like Joy (in clear finishes), but have not tried that myself.

For acrylic/water-based paints I often use Floetrol with a little water, and my dealer frequently recommends "Latex Paint Thinner," but I have not tried that. I have added Joy a very few times to Semigloss Latex paints, and although they turned out OK I am paranoid about the soap breaking the suspension in the can and harming the curing (polymerization and longevity of) my finish- a mental block I guess.

Pretty much, I think a lot of your bubble issue would be solved by adding a surfactant of some sort. Surfactant: Any substance that when dissolved in an aqueous solution reduces its surface tension between it and another liquid. I would try the latex paint thinner to slow the drying a little bit. Experiment with the dish soap on something that doesn't matter.

I don't know of any water-based urethane products which say it is OK to thin them, however.

BTW- I brush or rag all my wood finishes.

 

[halas]

Re: Lacquer or Waterborne Polyurethane wood finish?

I only use the waterborne varnish when there is no good ventilation in the room. Not sure about the bubbles but a quality filter is a must if you use conversion HVLP and not the turbine kind.
Otherwise I use lacquer since easier to work with, dries faster sands easy.
What i like about the lacquer is that it will melt the previous dried lacquer layer and bonds with it so well.
Durable finish for furniture.

 

[eaglejim]

Re: Lacquer or Waterborne Polyurethane wood finish?

Minwax gloss is what I use but I like the amber that you get with the urethane's I have used the waterborne's but don't like the look oh and on the application on smaller projects I use a brush

 

[smclear]

Re: Lacquer or Waterborne Polyurethane wood finish?

The bubbles could be coming from airborne dirt, dust, whatever. I have been doing a lot of varnishing this winter. I to noticed bubbles and ended up sanding and re-varnishing a whole lot. I finally got wise and moved my pieces to a make-shift "clean room" to do the varnishing. Once I did that, I'd say 95% of the "bubbles" disappeared.

 

[Tail_Gunner]

Re: Lacquer or Waterborne Polyurethane wood finish?

Two way's to do that if it was me..1 Hot varnish unparralled finish..you might not believe what heat can do for varnish but its amazing simply heat the varnsih to about 150 degrees...use a airless sprayer (no bubble's) small tip high pressure..it will leave a glass finish

2. Product Description

Perfection Varnish is a clear, two part linear polyurethane coating for wood and epoxy.

• Brushes easily with excellent leveling properties
• Hardens into an extremely tough high gloss
• Weather resistant clear coating
• Perfection Varnish also uses the latest technology in ultra-violet protection to resist sun damage for maximum longevity

Little different line of thinking but if you roll this stuff out it's leveling qualities are far superior to typical home finishes..and a lot more durable..

 

[derekpfeiffer]

Re: Lacquer or Waterborne Polyurethane wood finish?

I just got done completely finishing my basement and I used the minwax polycrylic on all of my oak trim...its water based which makes cleanup a breeze. I brushed everything. When I built my custom oak bar I lightly sanded with 220 grit and used a tack cloth to pickup any dust and brushed on the next day another light sanding and wipe down with a tack cloth and a second coat. Turned out perfect!! and I'm not master finish carpenter either.

On the oak trim I had noticed that it didn't raise the grain like standard polyurathane does so there was no need to sand/steel whool it between coats which was very nice!!

Good Luck

 

[fishrdan]

Re: Lacquer or Waterborne Polyurethane wood finish?

Thanks for all the replies guys. I decided to go with lacquer and it turned out perfect. I used Sherwin Williams Cab Acrylic Lacquer since it's clear and has UV inhibitors. Kind of spendy, but worth the price for no aggravation.

Well, except for 1 kamikaze bug, that decided to land, smack dab, right in the middle of the top Only bug that got on anything and it had to be in the middle of the top on the finish coat,,, oh well. Wife asked how I was going to "fix it"

Fix what???