Official Luthiers Forum!

I was having a discussion with a distributor of Mohawk products the other day and ended up buying a gallon of vinyl sealer and pre-cat lacquer to try. Seeming quite familar with the issue of stringed instrument lacquers vs. pre-cats he convinced me that pre-cats would be a good choice for my electrics.

I bought the gallon based on that conversation and the assumption that the flexibility of stringed instrument lacquers are more necessary with acoustic guitars than electrics because of a more dynamic environment with acoustics. Mohawk advertises this stuff as flexible and mar resistant...which should translate to being craze resistant as well.

I'd love to hear if my assumption is incorrect or if there's another reason NOT to use this on an electric. It sure laid down nice...no tendency to run whatsoever...and then it self-leveled very nicely. I doubt more than two or three coats would be necessary to finish an instrument. I sprayed a coat of vinyl sealer and six coats of this on some test panels and it still measures .022" thick after three days! I can still get a fingernail mark into it but at this rate I think it's going to be well inside of two weeks that I can begin to level.

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I read Emerson on the can. A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds...true...but a consistent reading of Emerson has its uses nevertheless.

StuMusic

Stuart, I have never used pre cat laquer, but I am very interested how well it would work on acoustics. Also, how easily it is to touch up ( does it burn in to itself?).

Are you sure the thickness is .022", thats pretty thick? I usually shoot for around .005" after final leveling.

Chuck

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Fill me in please Stuart. I thought instrument lacquer is pre cat. It's not post cat. I do use Mohawk instrument stuff. Works well but takes a lot of coats. I have a gallon of vinyl sealer but I'm sitting on the fence with respect to it.

Thanks,
Danny

The lacquer that many of us Australian luthiers use is a pre-cat made by Mirotone.

I've never had any issues with it at all. Can't compare it to Mohawk as I've not use it. It does best when mixed in about a 50/50 mix plus 5-10% extra slow thinner. You can level and buff after your last spray session in a week, but it really is much better if you leave it for 2 weeks or more.

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Allen R. McFarlen
Barron River Guitars & Ukuleles
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Cairns, Australia

I can't say how it burns in after an extended cure. I sprayed the six topcoats about an hour apart and those test panels are still curing. I did polish a cross section of a panel and under magnification there is no visual strata...which indicates that it burned in to itself pretty well. I wouldn't assume, however, that after a full cure one would get the same result.

You're right about the .022". Of course that's way too thick. That was the first time I sprayed the stuff. Subsequent panel tests will be done to determine how many coats are appropriate but I'd wager two coats will do it. I need to see how much, or if, this stuff shrinks back. It piles on without running....which is good if you are good handling a gun. It also thins with acetone (among other things) which might be necessay to be able to apply enough thin coats. Right now it doesn't give me the impression that it would all that easy to get thin coats...at least not with my gun. I need a smaller tip orifice and to thin it to lay it down thinner.

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I read Emerson on the can. A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds...true...but a consistent reading of Emerson has its uses nevertheless.

StuMusic

The instrument lacquer is different stuff, as Todd explained.

Mohawk Duracoat M610-24807 - that's what I'm using....probably over the same vinyl sealer you have.

_________________
I read Emerson on the can. A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds...true...but a consistent reading of Emerson has its uses nevertheless.

StuMusic

two things....

1: be aware that all pre-cat lacquer has a finite shelf life....

2: I had a bad experience with Gemini coatings products, specifically the fact that they think you don't need to pre-cat the sealer also...using SW products they state the need for a pre-cat sealer under a pre-cat top coat....haven't had any problems with that schedule...the Gemini Coatings though had finish failure starting within a year after I used it for a Cherry desk I made my daughter

I've got a couple of saw horses I used for pre-finishing a butt load of trim a couple of years ago...about 20 gallons of vinyl sealer and top coat (both pre-cat) were sprayed over them...there is quite an impressive build up still present (like 3/16") on them and even though there were many spray sessions over a period of time all of the layers are bonded quite well together so I think there is no burn in problem with pre-cat lacquer products