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Thread: Varnish and Laquer finishes?

  1. #1
    Registered User G7MOF's Avatar
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    Default Varnish and Laquer finishes?

    Is it possible to tell the difference between the above visually, If not, How?
    I never fail at anything, I just succeed at doing things that never work....


    Fylde Touchstone Walnut Mandolin.
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  2. #2
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    Default Re: Varnish and Laquer finishes?

    I can't tell them apart by looking. Two possibilities are photoacoustic spectroscopy and thin-film infrared spectroscopy. Both techniques require a chip of the finish.

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    Registered User Ivan Kelsall's Avatar
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    Default Re: Varnish and Laquer finishes?

    My Weber is lacquer & my Lebeda is varnish. The lacquered finish looks very flat,shiny & polished,& it also gives the impression of being thick,which i don't think it is.The varnish on my Lebeda is much more transparent.You can easily see the wood grain through it.
    It looks far less 'mirror flat' & it gives the impression of being very thinly applied.The biggest difference is when i come to wipe off wrist marks. The lacquer is h**l to clean,i can almost blow them off the varnish. I don't know if my 2 are typical of the 2 types of finish,but that's how 'they' look,
    Ivan
    Weber F-5 'Fern'.
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    Registered User almeriastrings's Avatar
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    Default Re: Varnish and Laquer finishes?

    There are so many variables with varnish... oil... spirit.. different formulations, it is really hard to generalise. A friend of mine had a mandolin (a Capek, I think, it was a while ago) and that had a really soft varnish finish. Marked up very easily. As to telling them apart - experience!
    Gibson F5 'Harvey' Fern, Gibson F5 'Derrington' Fern
    Distressed Silverangel F 'Esmerelda' aka 'Maxx'
    Northfield Big Mon #127
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    '39 & '45 D-18's, 1950 D-28.

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    Registered User G7MOF's Avatar
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    Default Re: Varnish and Laquer finishes?

    I only ask because, you hear people say they have a vintage Gibson or similar, and they say it's had a possible refinish with laquer/varnish in the past. I was just wondering how they knew!
    I never fail at anything, I just succeed at doing things that never work....


    Fylde Touchstone Walnut Mandolin.
    Gibson Alrite Model D.

  6. #6
    Registered User sunburst's Avatar
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    Default Re: Varnish and Laquer finishes?

    Lacquer, oil varnish, spirit varnish, or whatever; thickness, clarity, gloss, depth and other visual characteristics are largely determined by the finisher. How the surface is prepared for finish, what colors are added or not, whether the surface is intended to be full gloss, or flat or anything in between make it difficult to distinguish one finish from another visually.
    In dealing with "vintage" instruments, such as Gibsons, the time period when work was done can indicate what finish might have been used for refinish, overspray, or touch up. Gibson often refinished instruments with lacquer if they were sent in for repairs during the years after lacquer was "the new best thing" and before people became curious enough about old instruments to figure out what finishes would be "period correct" leading to the standard of today of using a like finish for touch up.

  7. #7
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    Default Re: Varnish and Laquer finishes?

    There was a post about this several years ago that I remember. Something about rubbing the finish with your thumb and smelling to see what it smelled like. That the two different finishes smelled different when rubbed. (Did Charlie Derrington post that?)

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