Target Waterbase Spraying Lacquer

For me, all instruments should be able to handle touring. That being said, this product is not road-worthy. With a little experimentation, you can get the finish to look great. However, it is fragile. You will not be able to put the instrument on a hanging stand without it utterly destroying the lacquer. Keep in mind I let one instrument cure for 6 months before writing this review and I am quite used to finishing things in the Floridian climate. A non-flame, non-toxic lacquer would truly be great, but this isn't there yet.

Loved spraying this finish with my new HVLP gun I got from STEWMAC. Definitely easy to work with. great smooth coverage, easy to level sand. Looking forward to getting it buffed out.

I just wanted to share some important information regarding The Target Waterbased Lacquer (EM7128). I had no problems either spraying or wet sanding and polishing the old formula, using it as a finish on 50+ violins. The new formula sprays well, but even though I sprayed thin coats, and allowed ample drying time, I found that I couldn't either wet sand or compound it. After a little experimenting, I found that you can wet sand it by merely using mineral oil. You can follow your exact same wet sanding procedure, just use the mineral oil more sparingly, because it’s a bit messy, and you only need a few drops to lube the paper. Also, for compounding, a mixture of mineral oil and rottenstone works exceptionally well, without either softening or swelling the finish. Now that I know how to wet sand and hand polish the new version, I'm quite pleased with the results, because it actually seems to be a little harder and builds better than the previous version.

In my initial review I had issues with the cure time of this product. It has now been almost 3 months since I posted that review and in that time the finish has finally reached a point where I can successfully sand and buff the finish to a high gloss and more importantly, it no longer picks up the imprint of anything it is rested against. I guess this means it has reached full cure. I also concede that although I was careful not to lay the coats on to thick, my equipment isn't of the highest quality and my previous experience is limited, and so it is possible that the long cure time is partially my doing? Consequently, I think it is only fair to give this product the benefit of the doubt and revise my score. Now that it has cured properly, I am happy with the end result.

I prefer Nitocelulose Lacquer to just about any other coating for wood stringed instruments. However, I like to get as close to the makers specs as possible when restoring/repainting. Fender uses plastic paints from 1966 onward, its just a fact of life. The acrylic lacquers and solvent based enamels that Fender used many years ago are not available, i wont use polyurethane or much worse, 2 part polyester slatherings, under any circumstance so im glad this high quality, production grade acrylic lacquer is available.This particular product is designed to simulate the spraying qualities of Nitro - its not exactly the same, obviously but its close enough to make it comfortable if your used to nitrocellulose.I would be glad if Stew Mac Offered the 6000 product as well as this one (7000).

I have been using Target coatings water based acrylic lacquers. Previous version using the Color-tone brand from Stewmac was EM6000 from my recognition. Stewmac discontinued Color-tone version (EM6000) and switched to EM7000HBL. From my experiences for both EM6000 and EM7000HBL, I would like to write reviews. I am an acoustic guitar builder, and we need a thin but hard coating as the final coat. EM7000HBL is a high build version. This version is able to make a thicker coat than EM6000 from one spraying session. When I apply final coats, I have quite standard spraying schedule. I have 10-spraying sessions from two day works including one sanding session between two day sessions. I had approximately one hour drying time between spraying sessions. I did exactly the same spray sessions for both EM6000 and EM7000HBL. From my experience, EM7000HBL makes way too much coat thickness for acoustic guitars. I might be able to cut down to 6-spraying sessions to obtain similar thickness as the EM6000 finish. This is a good change, because I am able to cut down my working time. However, EM7000HBL makes more bluish finish than EM6000, and I am not able to recognize EM7000HBL as an ultra-clear finish. EM7000HBL has fewer odors than EM6000, and this is a good change. From view point of final coat quality, EM6000 finish makes better finishing for me. EM6000 finish has excellent clarity, and much easier to buff. From my experiences, I will use EM6000 for my future guitar finishing projects.

Having terrible luck with this stuff. Won't cure. Remains cloudy. Had terrible luck with it peeling out during wet sand. Has turned several touch up jobs into nightmares. I know I have at least one guy that will never come back to me. I'd sure like the Color Tone stuff back.

I followed the schedule to the letter - maximum 3 coats per day with minimum 2 hours in between. I laid down 3 base coats, 12 color coats and 12 clear coats over the course of a couple of weeks. After a week I started to sand back the slight orange peeled surface. Initially, I tried dry sanding starting with 220 to 320 to 600 but that was less efficient and I was still getting some scratches due to clogging. I tried wet sanding but that just "restored" the orange peel I was trying to flatten. I returned to dry sanding and moved on to use micro-mesh down to 6000 which gave a nice satin sheen. I then moved on to the buffing wheel which did a great job at glossing up the finish but the scratches from dry sanding were still evident. Two weeks after ending the spraying, I tried wet sanding again but with the same results, so back to micro-mesh and the buffing wheel. However, when flipped the body over to do the back I was unaware that the towel the front was resting on was making a nice textured imprint in my freshly buffed finish. At present, the neck and body are in the attic where daytime temps are currently getting up into the 90s. My only hope is that I can achieve some additional curing and extra hardness to prevent this but judging by some of the other reviews this probably won't be the case. Very disappointed; I really don't want to have to remove the whole finish and start over with a product that is actually fit for purpose.

The water based lacquer is a pleasure to spray. I have a HVLP spray gun on a standard compressor. I only have the nozzle that came with it, probably a medium size. The coats I am getting with the WBL are just right. Nice and thin but good coverage, no runs and minimal orange peel. I was always a bit unhappy with my gun when spraying regular polyurethane but this WBL is a joy. I only wish I was building more than one guitar at a time so I could spray longer I enjoy it so much.

The best thing about this lacquer is how easy and satisfying it is to remove. All you need is a hair dryer and it is as fun to peal off as skin you've burnt in the sun.

I shouldn't be to hard on this product as I did apply it wrong.I sprayed it too thick and never lost the blue tint so I don't think it fully hardened.

I did find however on a test piece that a thin coat does produce a good clear, hard finish.