westhemann Posted January 13, 2007 Report Share Posted January 13, 2007 so...i went to sherwin williams today..told te guy what i was looking for(transparency,high gloss,super tough) and he reccomended this http://www.sherwinwilliams.com/OEM/wood/products/haps/ so i took the description sheet and looked it over and thought "well it sounds nice anyway..." so i went back and bought a gallon of it(smallest available) but for $35 for the varnish and $22 for the catalyst....it was i considered reasonable to try... so it takes a 3% catalyst/15% thinner ratio...so i mixed it up,added dye,and sprayed it through my preval sprayer i bought....it sprays very well through it,and lies very flat....and it is hard to the touch in 30 minutes... claims to reach full cure in 24 hours...but it MUST be above 70 degrees f while curing or it won't set. so the scraps are sitting...it seems to be compatible with a shellac undercoat so far...by tomorrow this time i will know how hard it sets.. so i am pretty excited...but i would like to know if anyone else has tried this or a similar product and if they think it is suitable long term. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
postal Posted January 13, 2007 Report Share Posted January 13, 2007 (edited) Keep us updated! I'm really curious.... Edited January 13, 2007 by postal Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westhemann Posted January 13, 2007 Author Report Share Posted January 13, 2007 i will..i am curious as well it smells less than poly or nitro...so i guess that is a good thing... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westhemann Posted January 14, 2007 Author Report Share Posted January 14, 2007 well..it cures pretty hard.harder so far than spraycan poly by quite a bit....i would say right now it may be as hard as the nitro finish on my gibson explorer was....i am going to let the scraps sit for a week and see if they get harder. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sand Paper Posted January 14, 2007 Report Share Posted January 14, 2007 Nice choice on the conversion varnish, you should be very happy with that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westhemann Posted January 14, 2007 Author Report Share Posted January 14, 2007 you have used it before? i am interested in any opinions you might have regarding it...final hardness,flexibility,durability...anything you know would be useful. all i have discovered so far is that it sprays well,hangs on vertical surfaces nicely,is thin enough to spray through the preval sprayer,and is ready to level sand after about 45 minutes... oh...and that it is a bad idea to spray it too thick all at once,because it cracks when the outer surface flashes before the inner Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fookgub Posted February 25, 2007 Report Share Posted February 25, 2007 Bump. Now that the Exploder is mostly done, what's the verdict on this stuff? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westhemann Posted March 1, 2007 Author Report Share Posted March 1, 2007 it's pretty good stuff.it's about as hard as nitro,but claims to be resistant to checking. it doesn't seem to deaden the sound any more than nitro either...i guess i would have to say it is just like nitro,except the clarity is better.and it cures quicker Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carousel182 Posted March 2, 2007 Report Share Posted March 2, 2007 wes how many guitars do you think i could finish with a gallon of this stuff cause i think im gonna use it for my next finish Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel Sorbera Posted March 2, 2007 Report Share Posted March 2, 2007 I am trying the crystal clear from ml campbell it also is a "Conversion Varnish" and I love it so far. Sprays well, awesome durability, great sanding/buffing, awesome clarity, and it seems to be very resistant to checking. It cures quickly, being dry to the touch in 20 minutes and they claim it fully cures in 24 hours. I did some tests and after just a few hours it powders nicely when sanding. I don't yet understand exactly what a "conversion varnish" finish is. But it seems to work very well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westhemann Posted March 2, 2007 Author Report Share Posted March 2, 2007 yeah i don't know what the name means either.the product does claim 24 hours to full cure...but you have to keep it above 70 degrees while curing. in reality,it seems to reach ultimate hardness after a few days.i sand in the first 24 hours,and buff after a few days.i assembled a week after final topcoat,and i had no problems. i do not know how much a gallon will do...in all of my playing around on scraps and doing this single guitar,i used about 1/4 of the gallon.i think without wasting on scraps,i might be able to do 10 or more guitars with a medium thick finish(this one is a thick finish...) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carousel182 Posted March 3, 2007 Report Share Posted March 3, 2007 wow that sounds great im gonna get some of this stuff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jer7440 Posted March 5, 2007 Report Share Posted March 5, 2007 Can you tint it with color tone dyes from stew mac? Do the build coats seem to burn into each other like nitro? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westhemann Posted March 6, 2007 Author Report Share Posted March 6, 2007 color tone is what i used...though it takes a bit longer to fully cure when tinted for some reason. yes it burns in...at least,i found no witness lines when sanding...and iirc it claims good burn in on the sheet that comes with it.but i think that is only ifyou rfollow the spraying schedule(45 minutes between coats) after full cure i always scuff sanded for adhesion Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jer7440 Posted March 6, 2007 Report Share Posted March 6, 2007 Thanks wes! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vinny Posted March 7, 2007 Report Share Posted March 7, 2007 Thanks Wes, I liked how this stuff sounds so I went my local Sherwin Williams tonite after work. The guy there was new so he didnt find it right away. He priced it at 3 times what you had paid, said he'd check tomorow when the boss was back in, for the correct price and when he could get it. Im gonna pick up a spray gun, filter and regulator next week and if this cold weather ever stops, maybe I'll actually get some coats on my son's Vee. -Vinny Heres a pdf of the spec sheet: http://www.sherlink.com/sher-link/ImgServ?...onvar_f24_e.pdf Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westhemann Posted March 7, 2007 Author Report Share Posted March 7, 2007 i used xylene for the thinner rather than butyl acetate...the guy at sherwinn said it was much cheaper...so check on that Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vinny Posted March 7, 2007 Report Share Posted March 7, 2007 The store called back today, I ordered both parts and it will take few days. Im looking at a couple of spray guns from Grizzly now, trying to decide what to get. -Vinny Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vinny Posted March 7, 2007 Report Share Posted March 7, 2007 i used xylene for the thinner rather than butyl acetate...the guy at sherwinn said it was much cheaper...so check on that Thanks Wes, they did have Xylene on the shelf, cool! -Vinny Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erikbojerik Posted March 14, 2007 Report Share Posted March 14, 2007 Hey Wes, did you spray this stuff over natural wood? Or over a paint job? Do you find it to be really clear? Or does it have a little bit of a white hue to it? (the term "water white" is throwing me a bit) I may use this on an acoustic...the weather is warming up! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel Sorbera Posted March 14, 2007 Report Share Posted March 14, 2007 Hey Wes, did you spray this stuff over natural wood? Or over a paint job? Do you find it to be really clear? Or does it have a little bit of a white hue to it? (the term "water white" is throwing me a bit) I may use this on an acoustic...the weather is warming up! I don't know about the Sherwin Williams stuff. But the crystal clear is perfectly clear. The term water white basically means it's a none yellowing formula (you find the same term describing nitro, some is water white, and some is yellowing) I found that the crystal clear shows off the wood underneath better than nitro, especially darker woods. The GOTM winner was finished in crystal and you can still see all the detail of the wenge underneath. Something that I found difficult to achieve with nitro or other finishes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westhemann Posted March 14, 2007 Author Report Share Posted March 14, 2007 "water white" just means clear...like godin said. i sprayed it over natural wood. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fookgub Posted March 14, 2007 Report Share Posted March 14, 2007 "water white" just means clear...like godin said. i sprayed it over natural wood. But you grainfilled with CA first, right? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westhemann Posted March 14, 2007 Author Report Share Posted March 14, 2007 yes.but you don't have to.it can be a sealer as well as a finish Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
six_stringer Posted March 15, 2007 Report Share Posted March 15, 2007 Wes, Do you spray your guitar's outside or do you have a booth set up inside for spraying? Thanks, Jeff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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