# Waterborne Lacquer



## Shoreline (Feb 7, 2011)

I've tried using aqualente recently on a cabinet job and have had some trouble with it. I've thinned, warmed, used retarder and dry gas all with varying results. I've had problems with micro bubbles and also the surface not laying down as nicely as I'd like. I'm spraying with a cat aaa set up for waterborne products. I was wondering if anyone is using this product and has any insight. I'm also looking for feed back on comprable coatings. Chemaqua or anything else. Thanks


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## blackstone (Nov 30, 2008)

I've used Kem-Aqua from Sherwin on several projects, including cabinetry, with great results (sprayed with AA). You can get away with a thicker film with the sanding sealer, then 2 coats lacquer leaves a great finish. Just remember it dries up slower than NC lacquers so be careful with your film thickness to avoid sagging...


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## Shoreline (Feb 7, 2011)

Is the sanding sealer oil based to eliminate bleading? I found with the aqualente that I would have to spot prime with shellac and then double prime with their primer to get a good solid base.Thanks for the input.


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## frankh (Feb 24, 2011)

I am trying to get used to the Kem Aqua. I spray it through a HVLP conversion gun. I have trouble getting it to level out nicely. If I don't thin it, it gets a bit orange peely. When I thin it, it flows out great, but seems to affect the sheen. I'm using a 1.5mm tip. Do you think a higher end gun would atomize better, without thinning? I used to use a turbine gun with other products, but it does not spray the waterborne very well. Any help would be greatly appreciated.


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## Shoreline (Feb 7, 2011)

I don't have any experience with the kem aqua but with the aqualente I tried spraying with a 5 stage turbine/pressure pot set up and didn't have very good results at all. The ML cambell rep spent about a day and a half with me in the shop trying to get a micro bubble issue resolved. He ended up brining me a cat aa demo machine to try and that seemed better but to be honest the results aren't up to the standard I want. I was hoping the kem aqua would be better. Would like to hear from anyone else who is spraying this kind of lacquer regularly.


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## more_prep (Dec 7, 2009)

I've tried almost every brand of waterborne lacquer available on the East Coast, and
for me the best pigmnented product has been Kem Aqua. I had a lot of trouble 
with finish defects such as craters and microbubbles with Agualente, which also
sagged very easily. I had similar issues with Target EM6500. Also, neither dried
hard enough. I also tried General Finishes White Acrylic and Becker Acroma 
Akvatopp, which both spray very easily without defects, and have a nice appearance,
but also did not harden up as much as I would like. The GF has some VOC issues.
I have some Valspar Zenith white to try out, but haven't sprayed it yet. 

On a horizontal surface, you could probably spray Kem Aqua with a spray bottle.
It flows and levels pretty well. The finish has that same hard, slippery feel 
that Satin Impervo has, or that solvent-based lacquer has. So far, Kem Aqua
is unique in this respect. But vertical surfaces are another story.

I've been spraying interior trim on site, and having two problems:

1. Overspray --- waterbornes dry fast, so if you get overspray on 
nearby trim, it will have a rough finish. This can mean a lot of masking and
separate passes. I use a 1.5 HP blower to suck out the overspray. 
Works great, but still have the issue.

2. Vertical Surfaces --- Kem Aqua has to be laid down thick enough to level, but
thin enough not to sag. There is a very fine line between good leveling and sags.
The sags are fun; :wallbash: need to sand them out with 400 and respray. It can
look great initially, then sag after 5-10 minutes. Luckily the stuff dries in 
30 minutes for sanding.

When it works, it looks fantastic. But so far, waterborne lacquer is a lot
harder to spray on-site than oil based paint. If you get some oil-based paint
overspray on something, it dries slowly enough that it will still melt in to
the topcoat when you get to that area a few minutes later.

As for equipment, I started out with a Binks Mach-1 HVLP conversion gun 
with a 1.7 mm fluid tip and 97AP air cap, on a pressure pot. This was
too large a tip -- the droplets coming out were too large to atomize well.
I went to a 1.3 mm tip, which worked a lot better, since it gave smaller
droplets, which gave better atomization. Yeah, this goes against 
the conventional wisdom that thicker coatings need larger tips. 
Most pigmented waterbornes come out of the can with a high viscosity,
usually over 90 sec in a Ford #4 cup. I have to thin with water
to get the viscosity down to about 45-60 sec. If you thin too much,
leveling is great, but it will sag easily. 

To get better atomization, I went to an air assisted airless setup. I have
Binks, Kremlin, and CA Tech guns. Yes, it does atomize better than
an HVLP, but control is a problem. Even going down to 0.007" tips with
2 - 6" fans, sags are hard to avoid when painting door and window casings
and complex moulding profiles. The AAA is great, but it's really 
for large panels in my opinion. You get one, maybe two passes at most,
before a sag. 

Lately I've been using a DeVilbiss Compact compliant gun with a 1.2mm tip and 
pressure cup, spraying Kem Aqua at about 29 psi air and 5 psi fluid.
Keeping the pattern small, the atomization is pretty good, and the overspray is
not too bad. Definitely an improvement over the Mach 1 HVLP, with
more control over fan width than the AAA. Still a very fine line between 
good leveling and sags.

Has anybody here had success spraying interior trim in place, with 
waterborne lacquer or acrylic paint?

I should say waterborne lacquer ain't designed for this, but it just about works.
Looks amazing when it does work.

Any suggestions on technique or setup?

How about brands -- anybody try Valspar Zenith yet? How about other brands
I didn't mention? (talkin' about pigmented, not clear, which is a whole different
story -- clears are much thinner coatings).

By the way, both the Becker Akvasurf and ML Campbell Aqualente primers are
excellent, and sand easily to a powder in under 30 min.


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## Duffa (Mar 29, 2013)

*Aqualente*

I use Aqualente exclusively and have beautiful results. I thin it down with distilled water with a number #4 ford cup to around 40 seconds. It will spray ok from about 30 seconds but you will get much better results at around 40 seconds. If you go much higher then 40 seconds it works ok but 40 is where I like to spray it. If you use household water you may get bubbling so I use distilled water exclusively. I use a 1.3 nozzle and spray it so it looks wet but not so wet it sags. I sand between coats and will end up with either 3 or 4 coats depending on what the project is for. I am using a HVLP setup with an air compressor. I set my gun air pressure to 29 pounds with the trigger depressed and this gives me a very good finish with proper atomaziation. My gun is a C.A. Technologies Jaguar SLP. This setup work great for me. I also make sure the piece being finished is room temperature (around 70 degrees) and the Aqualente is around the same temperature. Spraying at too low a temperature will give you problems. I clean my gun by spraying warm water and dish washing liquid through the gun and then run hot water through it and let everything dry out. I hope this helps. Good Luck. Once you get the feel for this product I think you will like it.


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## DK Remodeling (Mar 22, 2013)

Wow, It seems like if this thread was from another forum.


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## Duffa (Mar 29, 2013)

No, this is my only post about this product. I have had good luck with it so I keep using it the way I posted.


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## more_prep (Dec 7, 2009)

DK Remodeling said:


> Wow, It seems like if this thread was from another forum.


...trolling?


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## DK Remodeling (Mar 22, 2013)

more_prep said:


> Ha. Yes it does! I think that way long post was my first one on this forum, and it was inspired by another forum called "WoodWeb," which is a great cabinet makers' foum.
> Plus, it was kind of late. Other than that, I don't know
> what I was thinking...Most of it still holds true after a
> couple of years, though.


Come on dude, That was a copy and paste post.


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## modernfinish (Mar 20, 2013)

DK Remodeling said:


> Come on dude, That was a copy and paste post.


Yr funny man , call it like you see it much?


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## more_prep (Dec 7, 2009)

Not that anybody would give a chit, but
Just to clear up any misunderstandings, none of my posts are copied and pasted in whole or in part from any other source.
You can try to find wherever you think it was copied from if you want - I was just saying that Woodweb has long and detailed technical posts like mine on cabinet finishing. 
Not the same style as this forum...but useful.


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## Damon T (Nov 22, 2008)

Duffa said:


> I use Aqualente exclusively and have beautiful results. I thin it down with distilled water with a number #4 ford cup to around 40 seconds. It will spray ok from about 30 seconds but you will get much better results at around 40 seconds. If you go much higher then 40 seconds it works ok but 40 is where I like to spray it. If you use household water you may get bubbling so I use distilled water exclusively. I use a 1.3 nozzle and spray it so it looks wet but not so wet it sags. I sand between coats and will end up with either 3 or 4 coats depending on what the project is for. I am using a HVLP setup with an air compressor. I set my gun air pressure to 29 pounds with the trigger depressed and this gives me a very good finish with proper atomaziation. My gun is a C.A. Technologies Jaguar SLP. This setup work great for me. I also make sure the piece being finished is room temperature (around 70 degrees) and the Aqualente is around the same temperature. Spraying at too low a temperature will give you problems. I clean my gun by spraying warm water and dish washing liquid through the gun and then run hot water through it and let everything dry out. I hope this helps. Good Luck. Once you get the feel for this product I think you will like it.


Awesome post!! That's what makes this site valuable! That and Mudbone's wit!


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## gwil (Feb 19, 2014)

I have a gallon of pigmented Aqualente (primer, pigment, and clear) to spray on a fireplace and built-in this weekend with my HVLP unit and I found this thread while trolling for info. Not sprayed WB lacquers before and I have bunch of material scraps to test with. Thanks for the info Duffa.


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