A clear or pigmented film that dries by solvent evaporation alone — no chemical cure. Sprays on, flashes off, builds in coats. The traditional finish on Steinway pianos, Fender Stratocasters, mid-century radio cabinets. Reads as glassy in fresh coats, hairline-cracks (lacquer-checking) in old ones, refinishable in place forever.
Cellulose nitrate dissolved in lacquer thinner (toluene, MEK, butyl acetate blend), pigmented or clear. Spray-applies in 8–12 thin coats with light sanding (400–600 grit) between every 2–3. Final film 50–100 µm. Cure is solvent flash, not chemical crosslink — every coat melts into the previous, so refinishing in place is one of the lacquer hallmarks. Drawback: the same solvent-fusibility means alcohol, ammonia, citrus oil dissolve the finish; UV and time embrittle the film into a craze pattern (lacquer checking) prized on vintage instruments.
character — glassy clear when fresh, ages into hairline crackle, repairable forever, plastic / pigment-rich when colored.
SSPC / NACE surface-coating standards; manufacturer technical literature for the specific coating chemistry.
House vocabulary — terms ForMatter uses with intent.
Materials and processes for people who design and make things.
A local-first library of materials, processes, applications, and finishes — equal weight, citable everywhere, so a student can move from "what is this" toward "what's actually buildable here, now, by me." Part of the renato.design ecosystem — sibling of Plenum, Specimen, Ingenue, gesture, graf, and the Renato Rhino plug-ins. Form and matter, inseparable.
Half of teaching materials is teaching how the material is made into the thing. The standard subscription library was always light on that half. The wedge here isn't better samples or a prettier interface — it's treating Process as a peer entity, not a footnote.
Conway, Lefteri, Forty, Sparke, ASM, GIA. Every voice: Voices.
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