Help with lacquer

[kylelord]

I know that most everyone has moved up to basecoat/clearcoat systems, and acrylic lacquer is a thing of the past, I was hoping someone still remembers something or maybe uses it for spot repairs. Either way, I'm told that they stop making it in most states. My local dealer told me they stopped, I actually got mine from another shop that doesn't even advertise PPG. My first question is, how long until I can polish the clear? I sprayed on about 3 coats black, then about 3 coats clear. My second question deals with the surface of the clear. When I would spray the clear I would get an orange peel/overspray type effect. There would be a dry part that I sprayed, that would become wet, while the adjacent area that was wet becomes dry. It seems like overspray because I could understand how the paint won't blend into the previous coat. Is this what's happening? It seemed humid today, however I don't have numerical proof, so is there any chance it could be blushing? The clear was mixed 1 part of clear to 2 parts thinner(as per instructions). I was using an old craftsmen suction feed gun at 45 psi, with the adjusting knob approximately half way between fan and jet spray.
Any help with this topic is appreciated,
Thanks,
Kyle

 

[rex]

If it's blushing you'll know,it'll get a milky,cloudy look to it .As long as you can still see the color thru it you're fine.The dry spray sounds like your thinner is too fast.Polishing the next day is no problem.Set your gun up to put on a wet coat with the pattern as large as possible but an even pattern.Lacquer flashes pretty quick so I liked to get it on quick.On nice stuff I used to lay on a few coats and let it sit a day for every coat,then sand and lay a few more on and repeat until I got to the polish stage.Gives nice depth but you have to be careful how much you put on.For spot jobs I'd just blow a few coats on and slide the buffer over it a few hours later.

 

[rex]

I usually only used clear on metallic colors or if someone wanted clear over the color to add some depth.For solid colors I usually laid down 3 and sanded,3 and sanded,3 and buffed.For spot repair it was 3 or 4 and buff in production work.A month sounds long unless you're really laying alot of coats on or are using retarder,retarder takes a long time to evaporate out and almost forever if you use it alone to thin the paint.My rule of thumb was every coat got a day in the sun to dry,so after 3 coats it would sit 3 days before I sanded and continued.Lacquer is bad about shrinking in so this would help eliminate solvent trapping and shrinkage.Since lacquer is a thermoplastic it will reflow under extreme heat like that down here so prep and drying are key to avoid ugly shrinking.Unless it's below 70 degrees alot a week to 10 days should be sufficient to buff it.I still think the look of sanded and buffed lacquer can't quite be duplicated in urethane.

 

[kylelord]

Rex, thanks a lot for the help. I'll have to talk to my dealer about a slower thinner. The other thing I was wondering about was he said I should wait about a month before I polished, but I thought that seemed a bit long. When you said that you would lay on coats sanded in between, then polish it, did you use a clear coat? If I could get away without the clear, that would be great.
Thanks again,
Kyle