Curious if anyone has any experience with this product. I looked at the SDS and it is basically just solvent and Nitrocellulose resin for the lacquer itself. Though they call it a Conversion Varnish, it contains no Melamine or Urea.

Looking at the SDS for the catalyst, instead of the formaldehyde polysulfonic acid normally used for CV, they use the following two acids:

Phenyl phosphoric Acid, which is a phosphonate, in the same family as Glyphosate.

Phosphoric Acid and Esters which are organophosphates (insecticides).

I'm guessing these acids react with the Nitrocellulose resin to cause additional cross bonding, but I am curious to know if it is all just marketing hype by creating a slightly better nitro coating while adding words like "varnish" and "conversion varnish coating" to the description to make users think they are getting a product with similar durability and chemical resistance to true CV.

The idea of exposing myself to Organophoshates and phosphonates doesn't seem much better than formaldehyde, especially if the coating isn't much better than Nitro.

I'm guessing l've sprayed well over 1,000 gallons of SW's F3. Very good product. Sands great so no sealer needed, 3 coats produce a very smooth finish, great clarity and fast drying. Not tough enough for tables. 24 hour pot life. I've always thinned it 15%. Sprayed it out of a Kremlin 10-1.
All that said l quit using it a year ago as l could no longer get the catalyst for it. Switched to a Euro WB 2k poly and l don't see myself ever going back.

So if it is not tough enough for tables, then would you say it's about as durable as a pre-cat lacquer?

I know a lot of places that use regular conversion varnish for tabletops, but they use urea and melamine resins.

Like l said...l've sprayed a lot of this material, my guess would be upwards of 100 houses of cabinets, store fixtures, libraries, banks, my local county courthouse and Indian casino ect...Of all of those jobs the only call back/redos l've had with this product have been tables (2 restuarants [every table] and one home owner table. It just doesn't hold up where people rest their forearms against the table.
The answer to that problem is just use a 2k poly on tables.
SW F3 (l think it's originally a Becker Acroma product as I believe SW owns Becker Acroma) is a great product, drys amazing fast, sands great, great clarity and 3 coats will give you a very smooth touch and either no or very low formaldehyde.
That said, l'm liking the Euro WB 1k/2k poly that l'm using now even more...l believe it's more durable (only time will tell if this is true) very little VOCs (more when catalyzed) sprays great out of a AAA set-up (something that wasn't true with many American made WBs)

Jon,
The F3 is very comparable to the sherwood hi-bild precat as far as build and durability. The F3 will give more build than the precat, 2 coats of F3 was about equal to 3 of the precat. We stopped using the F3 because of the fumes which were much worse than running precat