Mirotec Water Based Lacquer

[fletch123]

I see Mirotone now have a water based lacquer in their range - I had not seen that before ?..

Mirotec - Mirotone

I've been spraying my guitars using the Mirocat PC3220 Precatalysed Lacquer for a while now and I really like it but I'm keen to switch to water based if its as nice a finish and easy to spray as the precat.

Does anyone have any experience with the water based stuff ?

Cheers

Dave

[old_picker]

i have used target em6000 [stewmac] and found it excellent
needs a lot of curing but a very tough high gloss finish is the result

[fletch123]

Thanks Ray, yeah I've sprayed the Stewmac Water based stuff before. I never really got a great finish though?. Maybe I should have given it longer than the 100 hours it listed as the cure time.. Have you checked pricing on the waterbased stuff above , could be cheaper than shipping it from half way round the world.

[old_picker]

no actually - mirotec WB-8060 looks to be the one to go for - we need someone to jump in and evaluate it
i am using wiping varnish myself these days and still have 1/2 a tin of the stewmac stuff i should really use on a build soon or it will be off

btw with the em600 i found if i hung it in a warm cupboard for at least 2 weeks -better is 3-4 it will buff out to a brilliant gloss and it is tough as hell
i have had guitars back after 4 or 5 years on the road and a lick with swirl remover brings em back like new

[mandoman]

So how do you guys get EM6000 now? Target Coatings are no longer shipping international and Stew Mac don't stock EM6000 any more. I have been using EM2000 varnish (and it's predecessors) for many years on my mandolins and am real happy with it. Fortunately Stew Mac do still stock it. Personally I am very disappointed with Target Coatings. The reason they don't ship international now is because of the postage costs. Now if you are prepared to pay the postage, even if it costs more than the cost of the product, then they should ship it! Quote from Jeff Weiss - "The costs and surcharge issues to ship paints and chemicals via US Postal Service are too high to provide quality service for our customers." Well NO service is NOT quality service!

Peter

[old_picker]

stewmac are now selling target em7000 which is as far as i know a better product [i could be wrong] than em6000
at least now stewmac are selling it for what it is - they used to rebadge em6000 as their own colortone product
they will ship it by air

stewmac have probably stitched up a deal with target coatings to not ship small qty's os

[mandoman]

Yes well Stew Mac claim it is better, but others have a different opinion. The reviews have been mixed, and some makers who have tried EM7000 have gone back to EM6000 or Nitro. EM6000 is pretty much tried and proven by now, but the jury is still out on EM7000.

Perter

[floody_85]

I tried stewmac water based around a year ago and it was crap. I couldn't get anywhere near a decent finish with it.

[old_picker]

good to know - that will save me buying a tin tnx

[mandoman]

Mmm, that is almost enough to stimulate me to get some and try it! Water based finishes are different and require differnet techniques so often the problem is with the technique of the user not the product. Do your research and listen to those who claim success and you might have a better chance of success yourself. Why do some claim EM7000 is an excellent finish, but others claim it is crap? It can't be both. Personally I don't like spraying water based because I seem to spend way too much time cleaning out the gun. Leave water based in the gun and it very soon ends up a gummed up mess. I use EM2000 which is a brushing varnish and get an excellent finish on my mandolins using a brush. However, there is a heck of a lot more involved than just opening the can and waving the brush around. My guitars have a nitro finish.

Peter