Achterhoek spinning wheels now varnished with new water-based lacquer

'Very satisfied with value for money'

Anyone who doesn't know any better would drive right past it: one of the largest manufacturers of spinning wheels, looms and card mills in the world, Louët BV, is located in the Achterhoek town of Lochem. Since last year, these products have been machine painted with the water-based lacquer Bluefin Unistar from the Austrian paint and lacquer manufacturer ADLER.

Besides kitchens and interior construction, 'Louët BV' has been engaged in the production of authentic handicraft products for nearly fifty years. Louët's spinning wheels, looms, card mills and matching accessories are sold worldwide to tens of thousands of active users: from Japan and the United States to Australia and New Zealand. 

"With our approximately thirty employees, we do almost everything in-house in approximately 2,000 m² of production space. Both complete production, from tree to product, as well as assembly, sales and warehouse," says Paul Vervoorn, Louët's general manager. "We also varnish our craft products ourselves." 

Previously, the company sprayed the products by hand, also with water-based lacquer - but since last year a machine-based lacquer line has been helping with this. The lacquer now used in this process is the water-based lacquer Bluefin Unistar from ADLER. 

Satisfied with value for money 

How did that switch come about? "Our then paint supplier did not sell the right paint for machine spraying in our lacquer street," says Vervoorn. So after purchasing the paint shop, the company did several tests with water-based paints from different paint and lacquer suppliers. In these, ADLER ultimately came out on top. "We were very satisfied with the price/quality ratio. ADLER also scored high on aspects such as speed, quality and delivery reliability. Our customers seem to agree with us, because so far we have not received any complaints." 

Good advice

An important role in the entire process was played by commercial technical advisor Jeffrey Gerritse of ADLER Benelux in Heeze. He advised Louët on the suitability of the various ADLER lacquers for craft products. He did so in consultation with the Louët employees in the paint shop. How does Vervoorn look back on this? "The process went pretty smoothly. In the beginning it did take some shifting and we had to coordinate a few things a little better." 

For example, the company has now deliberately chosen to spray its craft products 1K. The reason for this is that 1K lacquer is easy to reuse: "We spray our products first with primer, then with topcoat. We collect the residue and then use it again as primer," Vervoorn says. With 2K lacquer, this is difficult because of the limited open pot time. However, the disadvantage of 1K is that the drying time here is slightly longer. 

"Gerritse then advised us well what to do, he has a lot of knowledge about the field," Vervoorn said. "In addition, it is nice that he is always easy to reach and thinks well with us in the further optimization of our processes."

Full transition to water-based paints

Gerritse is also pleased with the contact: "In addition to the personal click, it was nice that Louët was open to various tests we did. This way we were finally able to deliver the best suited product for the application." 

The next step, according to Vervoorn, is to also purchase paints for the company's kitchen and interior construction business from ADLER Benelux. "In the future, we additionally want to switch completely to water-based paints as a company," he said.