Mixing Lacquer types. Bad idea?

So I am using Seagraves lacquer so far on my guitar but have run out. Is it a bad idea to mix different brands of lacquer while finishing? I have a couple cans of DEFT that I can use but am worried about curing and adhesion if they are different.

Thanks

So I am using Seagraves lacquer so far on my guitar but have run out. Is it a bad idea to mix different brands of lacquer while finishing? I have a couple cans of DEFT that I can use but am worried about curing and adhesion if they are different.

Thanks

No real problems using different brands of nitro on top of each other, but I would highly advise you don't use DEFT. That stuff dries super slow, is soft, prone to imprintation, and is more chemically reactive than other lacquers.

I have never tried Deft, but have read too many people complain about how slowly it dries.

If you can't find more Seagraves locally, there is another option in the Atlanta area.

I usually use Reranch, but I wanted to mix my own custom color so I bought Behlen nitro lacquer and thinner in stock at a Rockler Woodworking store. I found one Rockler in the Sandy Springs area, north of 285. Roswell road, I believe. There are probably others in the area.

I really liked the Behlen lacquer. Sprayed it with a Preval sprayer with no problem and it dries hard in a reasonable amount of time. I enjoyed mixing my own color with Stew Mac pigments (I finished my Strat in green, somewhere between Surf and Seafoam. YUM!)

I'm not sure if that's what Bill uses in the Reranch products or if its Mohawk or Seagraves. Good luck.

The stuff I have gotten from Reranch in the past is Mohawk.

They must have changes suppliers, they used to use Lawrence-McFadden & Co/Seagraves. Mohawk is quite a bit cheaper too.

That's because Lawrence-McFadden is out of business!

Mixing brands is *usually* not an issue, but as stated Deft is a notable exception.

My opinion is that you should never apply a product or full system that you haven't tested on scrap first. Trying to apply a full finishing system (or substituting a product because they ran out and can't get what they were using) on a guitar without practicing first is where most folks get into trouble.

Back to suppliers - Mohawk's pricing is the best I've found, especially in aerosols. I normally spray bulk (gallon) lacquer and tint my own colors but use many of Mohawks semi-transparent toners instead of stains and for aging effects. Aerosols - whether toners, sanding sealers or clears - I get for under $5/can. Behlen's and Mohawk are essentially the same company (and part of the RPM Group, which also owns Rust-Oleum), BTW.

There's a news flash. Seagraves bought the formula from Mcfadden and now produce it under their name brand.

Behlen's is the DIY brand line from Mohawk. Good stuff.

In my experience (35 years in the paint industry) no matter what the 'press releases" say no company buys another without tweaking the product formulas to match their particular manufacturing, raw material purchasing and/or QC methodology. They don't bring in all the other equipment or take over a plant and make everything the same way, nor do they always use exactly the same raw material suppliers...and changing raw material suppliers is an unbelievably complicated and costly task. Coatings chemists also do things their way and I've never known one to have an existing formula brought to him/her and not change it. All companies also have different batch QC testing methods and it's not a simple task to change them.

That's why I didn't mention Seagraves specifically. Maybe this is the one exception to the rule - but I really doubt it.

One significant indicator is that the price went up - there's no logical reason to do that with a small-market product that you are supposedly cloning unless the raw material cost and/or manufacturing "burden" (the direct cost of manufacturing, which varies depending on the methods of manufacturing and QC/lab methods/time) are higher. Statements that Seagraves is making *exactly* the same products...but jacked the pricing...sound like hundreds of other similar statements I've read when buyouts are made.

Thanks. The one thing I do love about deft is the spray nozzle. Rarely get any orange peel with it and goes on so much nicer than the others. Probably patented I would guess.

That's because Lawrence-McFadden is out of business!

Mixing brands is *usually* not an issue, but as stated Deft is a notable exception.

My opinion is that you should never apply a product or full system that you haven't tested on scrap first. Trying to apply a full finishing system (or substituting a product because they ran out and can't get what they were using) on a guitar without practicing first is where most folks get into trouble.

Back to suppliers - Mohawk's pricing is the best I've found, especially in aerosols. I normally spray bulk (gallon) lacquer and tint my own colors but use many of Mohawks semi-transparent toners instead of stains and for aging effects. Aerosols - whether toners, sanding sealers or clears - I get for under $5/can. Behlen's and Mohawk are essentially the same company (and part of the RPM Group, which also owns Rust-Oleum), BTW.

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deft is not really nitro cellulose it is blended with alkyd resins as long as you use a pure nitro your good and as a matter of fact there raw materials suppliers for nitro resins actually are the same. This has changed as VOC regs have reduced the amount of nitro manufacturers and are often relabled from other manufacturers. McFaddens technology went to CCI who owns many coatings companies. the world is becoming smaller as larger umbrella companies buy up smaller manufacturers

CCI is under the same umbrella as rustoleum and RPM

I have never tried Deft, but have read too many people complain about how slowly it dries.

If you can't find more Seagraves locally, there is another option in the Atlanta area.

I usually use Reranch, but I wanted to mix my own custom color so I bought Behlen nitro lacquer and thinner in stock at a Rockler Woodworking store. I found one Rockler in the Sandy Springs area, north of 285. Roswell road, I believe. There are probably others in the area.

I really liked the Behlen lacquer. Sprayed it with a Preval sprayer with no problem and it dries hard in a reasonable amount of time. I enjoyed mixing my own color with Stew Mac pigments (I finished my Strat in green, somewhere between Surf and Seafoam. YUM!)

I'm not sure if that's what Bill uses in the Reranch products or if its Mohawk or Seagraves. Good luck.

Highland Hardware (in Virginia Highlands) has Behlens as well as their stringed instrument lacquer. I'm not sure what the difference is other than the smell, more retarder maybe.

Woodcraft in Norcross has Behlens as well, I believe.

I used both varieties on my first attempt at lacquer, with mixed results. It was my first try so I won't blame the product.

I'd stick to the same lacquer if I were you, unless you want to start over.

As noted Behlens, Mohawk, Rust-Oleum and CCI are all part of RPM. Mohawk makes the private-label Behlen's "Instrument lacquer", which in bulk for handles like Mohawk's standard "Classic Instrument Lacquer" - except it's less expensive with the Mohawk label.

Valspar's clear bulk lacquers work well (for me anyway..although I dislike their aerosols) and their white gloss is tintable (either by you using universal colorants or many paint stores will tint to match a sample). When you consider Valspar, Sherwin Williams and most other trade-sales lacquers sell for $30-35/gallon (even tinted) it seems to only make sense to buy quarts of Behlens if you're only doing one or two projects a year spraying with an HVLP.

With aerosols you can mix (meaning overcoat one with the other) so-called "nitro" (almost all nitro/acrylic blends), acrylic, aerosol "pre-catalyzed" (Mohawk packages it) and "Lacquer Enamels" (a misnomer - simply a trade term for opaque lacquer finish colors).