Rustins Plastic Finish

[ScottR]

I've been thinking of using Rustin's on my next build.....somewhat because of its history and mostly out of curiosity. I've seen a few builds here that used it and looked great. PaulieMac and Muzz come to mind, although it feels like I should remember others.

So what are the pros and cons of the stuff? Is it hard or soft, easy or difficult....I'm assuming it cures much faster than nitro. Can you tint it? Does it have witness lines when leveling? Brush on or spray on?

Who likes it? Who thinks it sucks?

I'm not sure about inquiring minds....but I'd like to know.

Thanks,

Scott

[pauliemc]

Hey Scott.

I use it a little. Mostly when the weather suks too much for spraying. Its easy enough to use, I brush it on at 3 coats a day. Cures fairly hard & burnishes up very well.

BUT ! man does it have a strong smell when curing. I would not use it in the house unless you want headaches, even in a seperate room to where you are spending your time. Do it in the workshop / garage.

I rekon you will be fine with it, Give it a go.

[ScottR]

Hey Scott.

I use it a little. Mostly when the weather suks too much for spraying. Its easy enough to use, I brush it on at 3 coats a day. Cures fairly hard & burnishes up very well.

BUT ! man does it have a strong smell when curing. I would not use it in the house unless you want headaches, even in a seperate room to where you are spending your time. Do it in the workshop / garage.

I rekon you will be fine with it, Give it a go.

Thanks Paulie. The garage it will be. How long does it take to cure?

SR

[WezV]

I used to use it a lot, that was when i was doing my finishes by hand with a brush.

now stuff gets sprayed and sometimes its used, sometimes not. it is definitely easier to spray than brush, but a good finish can be got by brushing it if you are patient and sand back regularly and use a damn good lacquer brush

It tints well with spirit based stains

You can do 3 coats a day or even more no problem. if you start again with 24 hours you can carry on like that. If you have to leave it past 24 hours than give it a few days before applying any more or it will wrinkle.

coats applied within a day will burn in, coats after that 24 hour period will not so that is when you get the possibility of witness lines

You can buff it to a high gloss after a week, although it will still sink in a little after that.

Its a very hard wearing finish, but not really brittle like nitro, it will dent rather than crack.

this is the last one i did with a brush. wood was stained, RPC was clear. buffed by hand:

[ScottR]

Wez are you saying RCP is sprayable and in fact is easy to spray? Or at least easier than brushing? Or were you saying spraying lacquer is easier than brushing this?

SR

[WezV]

i am saying i brushed it when it was my only option... until i had my cousin offer to start spraying for me. It sprays just fine, needs a little thinning

Both ways work, brushing takes more effort because you have to apply more and flat back - not easy to brush a perfectly flat coat like you can when you spray. as with all things, its easier to get professional results when spraying

I have some sprayed pictures too:

straight out the gun

buffed

[pauliemc]

Wez are you saying RCP is sprayable and in fact is easy to spray? Or at least easier than brushing? Or were you saying spraying lacquer is easier than brushing this?

SR

Its like Wez Says. you can do both, Spraying is better but you can brush it on aswell. Its the only finish I use apart from oils if I cant spray.

Although I have had some success with spraying it, Not everything goes to plan every time. Iv had a few go wrong with the gun. But I suspect that was my spraying more so than the RPC.

I generally wait about 7-10 days before buffing it up. Personally, Id take Wez advice with this stuff over mine as he has had more success with it than me.

PS.

WEZ. That second gitir is fookin groovey lookin. realy nice work

[ScottR]

I'm getting the impression that you both would choose laqcuer over this with good finishing weather.

I've certainly seen some gorgeous finishes done with it--emphatically including those that Wez has thoughtfully provided. I'm mostly interested out of curiosity and for a comparison to lacquer. I like lacquer just fine, but the long curing time is tedious and it has a tendency to pull away at edges without special care and chip if you bang an edge. I sure is easy to repair and poish though.

All things being equal and good weather at hand would you both choose laqcuer first?

SR

[WezV]

i would go with the RPC every time. my cousin is less sure so i let him use what he wants - but he hates nitro so i am pushing him back towards RPC. if i let him he would use 2k auto lacquer every time, i am still not convinced by that.

we used one gun with a plastic cup that reacted oddly with the RPC, but the little metal touch up gun works great

[Muzz]

Yep Wez convinced me to use Rustins, now I don't think I would use anything else, it is such a good looking and hard wearing finish. Paulie is right though, the fumes are way strong.

[pauliemc]

I'm getting the impression that you both would choose laqcuer over this with good finishing weather.

No not realy. Its realy good stuff. So long as you have it in a warm room it goes off in about a week & is good for polishing. Almost without fail a week after final coat & your done.

I just prefer to spray my finishes so I use acrylic urethane for most things. although that can sometimes take a few weeks to be good for buffing. But I get a good finish with it & have very few problems, Iv had 01 issue in 3 years .

I use the RPC if I want a realy strong gloss finish or if the humidity here is too high.

Having said all that, I have just over 4 liters of the stuff here at the moment. That should tell you a lot.

Wez comment about the plastic cup is interesting. I keep a record of screw ups to help with decisions about new equipment, I must look up the setups of the spray RPC that went funny.

[ScottR]

Great, thanks for the input guys.

Now I'm just going to have to find a source for it here in the states. I could have sworn I'd seen it at StewMac in the past- but not now.

SR

[brian d]

Don't know if anyone's still watching this thread....I'm looking to buy spraying equipment for RPC - I've been brushing it up to now (before that I was using Tru-Oil.)

I've been looking at the entry-level Earlex, or a Wagner fine spray system OR going all the way with a compressor and spray gun. From Wez's comment above, I would assume that the Earlex and Wagner with the plastic cups may be risky. Anyone have experience with these?

If I do go with a compressor/gun, what are your experiences with HVLP for RPC compared to regular spray guns? Do you need to thin it more for HVLP? And if so, does that mean you need more coats?

I'm a spraying newb, so please be gentle :-)

[WezV]

right, on the plastic cup issue - we now think it was just a dodgy gun

we tried everything with that gun and it never performed the way it should. it got stripped and cleaned so many times it was getting daft. it kinda worked with other finishes but not as good as it should

In the end i just picked up another gun, that also had a plastic cup - and it works absolutely fine

The good gun was a Devilbiss starting line - half the price of the shitty one and works absolutely perfectly. I am liking RPC a lot again at the moment. I sware the shitty one had contamination from the shop, even though it got stripped and cleaned as good as possible before use

[ScottR]

I never did find any for sale over here.

SR

[maull]

I was just about to ask if anyone had found a US distributor. I am thinking of contacting Rustins directly to see about gettiing some shipped to the US.

[ScottR]

I was just about to ask if anyone had found a US distributor. I am thinking of contacting Rustins directly to see about gettiing some shipped to the US.

I did that. The best they had at that time was the suggestion that there were a few sellers on ebay that would ship to the US. I did not pursue that. Please post your finds if you get a better answer.

SR

[maull]

I seem to be striking out on this as well. Any distributor I have contacted will not ship to the US. Axeminster refers to it as a "hazardous chemical".

[Pestvic]

hmm im interested now too. I'm going to research as well.