question about coloring lacquer

I've got a gallon of clear nitro which is great but I'm really needing some black. Can I take my clear to the hardware store and have them tint it for me? In other words, is there a special kind of pigment that you have to use when mixing with nitro?

The tint would need to be an alcohol based tint(probably). Unless the can says water based then you will need an alcohol based dye.

Your local hardware store is not likely to be able to tint it with their stuff. They definitely can't use the same stuff they tint latex paint with.

I use LMII alcohol based dye. They also have a water based version if your lacquer is water based.

http://www.lmii.com/CartTwo/thirdproducts.asp?CategoryName=Dyes&NameProdHeader=Aniline+Dyes+Alcohol+Soluble

Actually if the hardware store will just sell you some of their tint (likely a UTC-style tint) it probably will work, but you should test it on a small scale to make sure. Those tints are not water-based, they are usually glycol ether based, which means they are Universal Tinting Colors - UTC.

Something I just found out myself from a cabinet finisher from his learned the hard way lesson too much tint the lacquer will not dry. A paint store will color lacquer I would go to a paint store not a hardware store, Lowes or Home Crapo . You will most likely need to clear coat over the color coat.

Tinting lacquer with black tint will not make it black, but a dark transparent gray.

If you want solid black, goto Lowes or walmart and buy some Rustoleum Black lacquer. Its about 3.86$ a can.

Most Rustoleum I've seen is enamel. In fact, I did not know that Rustoleum offered any lacquer paints. I'll check it out. A lot of Krylon is lacquer, though some Krylon is enamel. WalMart has Krylon.

When the can of Krylon reads "Dries in fifteen minutes" - its probably lacquer. If it doesn't say lacquer on the can, look for acetone, ketone, xylene in the ingredients. Those are in high concentration in lacquer, but not enamel.

Anyway, its a good point and a good idea. Buy a spray can of black lacquer and use your clear lacquer over it as finish coats.

As an experiment, I painted a home-made mahogany control cavity plate (grain filled) with satin finish black Krylon lacquer from an aeresol can. Then I clear coated it with Nitro McFaddens and my compressor rig.

It turned out nice and shiny because of the gloss clear coat.

Rustoleum lacquer just appeared here locally within the last year. I was excited to see it so cheap.

Krylon spray paint- I don't know what it is but I can tell you that mineral spirits, acetone, lacquer thinner and denatured alcohol will strip it. So it aint pure what ever it is. I just like the colors they have available.

Mixol tint contains solids and will make the clear appear as a solid color although it may take a few coats before it no longer aooears translucent and looks like a solid color.

http://www.woodcraft.com/Catalog/ProductPage.aspx?prodid=16586&ss=1b18efe9-6674-45d3-874f-14c69f32eabb