waterbase lacquer finish suggestions

[Martian]

I am getting to where most of my components are ready for assembly and am looking for suggestions for a waterbase lacquer product. prolly gloss.i have used Behlen, and liked it, and tried a product , Fabulon , ( I think) I really didn't like it very much, a bit dull . I am also hoping to learn French polish

[Marty Jacobson]

Well French polish is a very different look than waterbased finishes. Both can be good, just different.

There is no real "waterbased lacquer", but there are waterbased or waterborne chemistries which act like lacquer.

Minwax Oil Modified Waterbased Poly is good, very similar in hardness to traditional lacquer. Very amber in color.
General Finishes Enduro-Var is good. Very hard (some have said too hard, but I don't know what that means - I've never had any problems with checking or delamination, so as long as no problems with those things, why would it be "too hard"?)
General Finishes High-Performance Acrylic is water clear, good for colored finishes, very similar performance to Enduro-Var.

Differences between waterbased finishes and traditional lacquer:

Clean up with soap and water. When things get gunky or you don't do a good job cleaning with soap and water, clean up with B-TEC Systems Aquamax cleaner, 1 gallon makes 5-10 gallons of cleaner.

Dries to the touch in 30 minutes, dry sand in 1 hour.

Never wet sand, only dry sand.

Technically doesn't "burn in" between layers, but I have never had an issue with witness lines visible in a finished product.

Don't spray as much of a "wet gloss" as lacquer - leave it at orange peel. It will self-level, but much slower than lacquer. If you spray a wet gloss, you sprayed it too thick.

Don't ever use shellac or another sanding sealer underneath it - the varnish is pore filler and sanding sealer in one, just flat off and spray, flat off and spray until you're happy with the look. I like my instruments to have a little bit of wood texture, so this allows you to dial in exactly how much you want to see.

Sand at 320 or 400 grit between coats, unless you hit the recoat window (usually 30 minutes to 1.5 hours).

Before the last coat, sand to 2500 grit, your final coat will be smooth as glass.

Spray at 70+ degrees Fahrenheit, whenever possible. Spraying below that is possible, but you'll extend the dry time by double or more, and won't get good flow-out.

[Martian]

thank you for all that info. I will look into Euro-var

[Buck]

Terry Whipple uses EM Tech 6000 clear finish on guitars. I'm not a builder, but an interested observer. This finish has a nice look and feel to it, and seems durable from what I can tell. It may not be what you ultimately want, but thought it was worth mentioning.