Is there a difference in lacquer thinners?

I think that I remember reading that the typical "Home Center" lacquer thinner is not high quality stuff and should not be used to thin nitro.

Does anybody have any experience using Home Depot/Lowes type thinners with nitro-cellulose?

I've used the whole spectrum of lacquer thinners, from the $9/gal to the ones where you bring your own gas can (no kidding).
I really could never discern any differences in any of them. They just need to get on and do their job and let the paint do its job.
Beyond that, I have never A/B-ed thinners to see. We're all still learning...

I have used several brands and not noted any differences. I use a lot so I tend to go for the cheapest I can find.

Do the cheap thinners suck tone from the lacquer?

Yes, there absolutely IS a big difference in thinners.

But if no one explained it to you, you could buy 5 different varieties of trashy thinners and assume all thinners are the same, (since they were all of the trashy variety) which they are not.

Standard Loews/HD thinners: Trashy thinners, more for use as a cleaning solvent rather than to shoot with.

The good thinners you will find by searching for your local professional finishing retailer or wholesaler, they will offer usually three different thinners rated at different 'speeds':
Fast, Medium, and Slow.
If it doesn't have a speed listed on it, it's most likely a 'trashy' version thinner.

In a nutshell, the thinners sold by pro finish shops have far better (cleaner) ingredients in them, and they provide a very particular function, which is how slow or fast your lacquer will set up.

The Home Depot stuff will fall in the fast catagory.

The problem with lacquer is usually moisture and blushing, which comes from the top layer of the lacquer drying too fast and trapping moisture underneath, showing up as a whitish film.

The different thinners, depending on what your ratio of thinner to lacquer is, and which thinner you choose, will determine your dry time, and the additional time the good thinners offer will allow the lacquer to dry at a proper rate and give you a sweet crystal clear smooth (provided you know how to shoot well) ...finish.

Now, you can basically achieve the same thing by buying trashy Home Depot thinner and a can of lacquer retarder, as adding different amounts of the lacquer retarder will do the same thing as buying the different speed thinners, the more you add the slower the finish will dry, so then it becomes a matter of the trashy ingredients involved.

I'm not a chemist and can't speak to why some ingredients involved are trashy and some are high quality, you would have to ask your local finish supplier that question.

Here is a link to my local finish supplier, have a look around their website and then find your local guy who does the same thing.

You can also have a look at their solvents/thinners page as well.

http://www.industrial-finishes.com/index.htm

Ah ha.....now that makes sense (after checking out the link).

I'm sure there some place around Cincinnati that has the higher quality (and I'm sure price too) stuff. Next time I'm at Sherwin-Williams I'll have to check what they've got. Woodcraft and Rockler have small quantities of thinner and I'll have to check those too.