Waterbased Laquer? - Poly? - Acrylic???

[Gordon Bellerose]

The title kind of says it for me.

I am from Canada, and the VOC laws here make it almost impossible to get Nitro Cellulose, or other solvent based finishes.
Working with waterbased products also means better it's for the environment, less flamability, fumes, etc.

I tried a waterbased acrylic, but the final product was too soft. I was able to mark it with my fingernail.
I next tried a urethane product made for hardwood floors, but it didn't spray well, having a lot of very tiny bubbles from spraying.
I'm looking for a good hard clear finish for my instruments.

What kind of waterbased clear finishes have you guys had luck with?

[Bob Gramann]

I have been really happy with Target Coatings EM6000. It's some sort of acrylic. It does burn into itself and makes a pretty good finish.

[Gordon Bellerose]

Is it available in Canada?
How have you been spraying it?

[Ron Belanger]

I originally started with KTM 9 and was happy with it, but it has been discontinued. So now I am using KTM SV which I like better. I order it directly from Grafted Coatings. They ship it by mail. No problems. I don't think there are any dealers in Canada.

[Bob Gramann]

I don't know if Target can ship it to Canada. Ask them. I spray with a gravity HVLP gun at around 40 psi with a 1.3mm tip. Once you get the gun dialed in, you can spray a pretty smooth wet coat (but don't look at it past a few seconds after you spray until it dries--it can look pretty rough while it's drying).

[Gordon Bellerose]

Yeah, I have sprayed waterbased clear coats already, so I'm familiar with how it goes on and looks right after spraying, and after dry.
It should look kind of pebbly right after spraying. After that it kind of melts into itself to a smoother surface.
I sprayed 8 coats, two per day and then waited for 2 weeks for curing in warm dry conditions, and then did the final buffing and polishing. It looked great but was too soft. I don't think I did anything wrong but had to sand it all off because of the softness.

The next product I tried sprayed badly, resulting in a huge amount of very small bubbles in the dry coat. Again had to sand it all off.

In case you're wondering I am spraying on mahogany that I also used 2 coats of grain filler on, and sanded back lightly.

Frankly I'm tired of throwing good money after bad with having to purchase all these finishes.

I see Ron B. that you're in Ontario. Maybe I'll try to find Grafted Coatings on the web. Thanks.

[Dave Stewart]

I use EM6000 (an acrylic, unlike KTM-SV) & like it. Don't know where you are but I buy it from Wood Essence in Saskatoon & pick it up from his Oakville warehouse.

[David King]

While it's not water-based, I'm testing out a new Canadian-made finish that's very close to 0 VOCs. It's about the same hardness as polyester, i.e. it sands beautifully and takes forever to polish. Unfortunately for me it requires sunlight to cure or a UV lamp. It is designed to be brushed on but can be sprayed when thinned with acetone. The lamp that came with it is kludgy and difficult to work with so I'd recommend it to folks in sunnier parts of the world when coating larger areas like a guitar. It should be available soon from a luthier supply place.

[Steve Rolig]

I've been satisfied with KTM-9 and it is still listed on the LMII site. When I displayed my guitars last year another builder thought it was Nitrocellulose. If the KTM-9 is truly discontinued I try the KTM-SV next.
Steve

[Gordon Bellerose]

I went to the Wood Essence site and they have EM-6000. This product seems to be a standard in instrument finishing, so I ordered some. They also carry a lot of different products like General Finishes, and plenty of others.
The guy I spoke to said that they do sell a lot of EM-6000 to instrument makers here in Canada. We also spoke about EM-7000 and he repeated some of the things I've heard in other forums, at stewmac, and here. Things like some people say it has a bit of a blue color to it.
Wood Essence is located in Saskatoon SK, right here in good ol' Canada, one province over from me! They are going to send me a gallon in the mail. Should be here this week.
I would like to thank all the forum members who posted and helped me out.

I'm looking forward to finally getting some of my guitars finished!