finish type question for jack or anyone

Hi all,

Call me dumb. When I go into wally world, or the depot or what have you, how do i tell if something is lacquer as opposed to anything else? i have now learned the hard way that enamel is different (not unuseable mind you) from the rest. enamel's fairly easy to pick out though now that i look for the word "enamel" on the can.

My local Lowe's doesn't carry deft, but do they carry a nitro clear that's the same? how do i tell?

What's the difference between paint, enamel, acrylic, nitro, lacquer, poly etc., and how do i tell the difference if they're not labelled as such?

I've searched the forum and i don't really see a definitive, in-one-place definition of these or how to tell them apart.

Anyone???

Thanks in advance,
JC

Nitro will have to be removed with lacquer thinner. Some products labeled as enamel are lacquer.....weird eh? If it;s fast drying, and cleans up with Lacquer thinner or acetone, it's lacquer.....

General purpose Krylon is acrylic lacquer. Deft is nitrocellulose lacquer. There's no compatibility problem when using those two. Deft is available at my Lowes, Home Depot, Walmart and most hardware stores.

Watco lacquer is another nitrocellulose lacquer.

if i were looking at a generic can, is there any way i can tell the difference? like "Contains ketones... etc" or whatever?

i get kind of confused standing in front of the wall of color. maybe i'm just easily dazed. :)

JC

My method's not very scientific, but I surreptitiously spray a little bit into the lid, then wait a few seconds for the volatiles to dissipate, then smell it. I just about know the difference between acrylic and nitro. Not sure what enamel smells like though.

The chickenpicker is correct. Nitro lacquer has a smell that can't be mistaken.

Krylon makes a nitrocelluos lacquer too, it's a specialty finish....yay! but the nozzles sort of suck, deft makea a better spray tip. But I'm going to try to find where Grafitti artists buy their nozzles, which would make a huge difference in results....

I have a question Jwells393, if you use 2 different brands, like deft ( non-yellowing) and one that doesn't say non yellowing, will the additives that are present in the deft be cancelled out by the other lacquers yellowing properties? I'm asking because since they melt together would it yellow or not?