From: porcelli@trabs.serum.kodak.com (Rocco Porcelli (x69853))
Newsgroups: rec.woodworking
Subject: Wagner FineCoat (was Re: Laquer)
Date: 29 Dec 92 15:02:44 GMT
Reply-To: porcelli@serum.kodak.com
Organization: Clinical Diagnostics Division, Eastman Kodak Company



porcelli@serum.kodak.com writes:
|I haven't been very happy with the look of any top coat finishes I've used.
|I saw a piece at a local cabinet shop that was finished with lacquer.  I
|liked the way it looked.  Does anybody out there have experience with
|lacquer?  I also saw an add in Woodworker's Supply of New Mexico for a
|water based lacquer.  Has anybody used this?  I have a Wagner Finecoat and
|have been spraying Hydrocote clear finish and polyurethene.  The finish is
|OK but it's not really what I'm looking for.
|
|As an aside.  I really like the Finecoat.  It's a great way to get into
|HVLP for a relatively inexpensive price.  My only complaint about it is
| hat the gun leaks around the cap sometimes.
|
|Thanks in advance for your responses.
|
|Rocco Porcellio
|Eastman Kodak Co.
|Rochester, NY

>I have never used water based lacquer, but am also curious about it.  I
>have a fair amount of experience with acetone based lacquer; it is
>noxious stuff but flows and levels quite nicely when sprayed.  Its major
>drawback is its softness and tendency to flake when hit.  It is, after all,
>just a surface coating that does not really penetrate the wood.  I have
>recently been experimenting with a synthetic tung oil/polyurethane blend
>produced locally (Daly's "Pro Fin" here in Seattle).  It doesn't flow as
>well (I have been wiping it on) but it seems much harder and more
>durable.

>Which brings me to a question for you.  If you don't mind my asking, how
>expensive is the Wagner Finecoat?  Have you sprayed any lightbodied
>finishes like stains or shellacs?  I'd ask if you have sprayed lacquers,
>but gather you haven't.  I have a Wagner airless (model 300, I think),
>which does an adequate job with heavy coatings like latex, but is too
>course (orange peel) for fine finishing.  I am curious about HVLP spraying
>for lacquer, oil, and stain, but the commercial rigs are quite pricey
>(~$1K or more).



>-- 
>    Eric
>               Microsoft Systems, Advanced Systems Development
>            {sun, uw-beaver, apple, uunet, fluke}!microsoft!ericb 
>                       internet: ericb@microsoft.com


The Wagner FineCoat runs betwwen $169 - $179.  I have been very happy with it.  The only complaint I have with it is that the cap on the gun has started to leak a little bit.  I have sprayed stain and water based top coat finishes with it.  It has worked well in both cases.  As an aside, it is my understanding that there are two kinds of stains. 

1.  Dye stains that actually stain the wood.  These can be sprayed.

2.  Pigment stains have pigment particals which make it more like paint.  These should not be sprayed because they will really clog up the spray gun.

You can tell which are pigment and which are dye stains when you stir them.  Pigment stains will have settiment at the bottom and dye stains won't.

Wagner has also come out with a FineCoat pro or something to that affect.  I think it is more in the $300 range.  I think it is basically the original FineCoat with a better spray gun.

Some updates on my original post.  I have found out that Hydrocote's clear finish is actually a water based laquer.  I also found out that my unhappiness with the finishes is because I wasn't using enough.  I was spraying on 3 coats of finish.  Well, while I was finishing off some doll beds for my kids for Christmas I realized I had been rather careless between coats so I decided to hit them with some steel wool and apply a fourth coat.  Low and behold the finish looked pretty good.  So while finishing up 






some other presents I really took my time and applied the finish a little heavier than I had been.  The results were a much better looking finish.

If anybody has any more questions on the FineCoat I would be happy to answer them.  If anybody has comments about other HVLP's I would be interested in hearing them.

Rocco Porcellio
Eastman Kodak Co.
Rochester, NY
Newsgroups: rec.woodworking