ScottR Posted February 18, 2019 Author Report Share Posted February 18, 2019 It is starting to look like 65 % relative humidity is the beginning of the danger zone. Below 60% is better. I can tell you I didn't know those numbers before this project. We've apparently had a very wet winter this year. Behlen's Blush eraser does a wonderful job.....usually. Just spray it on and it disappears .Usually. Those first pics took one application and the blush magically went away. It may be worth taking note that it had been 4 or 5 days after spraying the lacquer. That last little bit showing in the last 4 pics is resisting the spray. I first sprayed the remover on it only one day after spraying the lacquer. So a little curing may be required. Another thing I've learned, is the blush appears to be very near the surface. The few times I've taken sandpaper to it, a very fine paper just knocking of the surface cleared the blush. That is not to say I believe I've learned all the lessons blush has to teach me. I will say it is teaching me all kinds of new ways to try my patience. SR 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted February 19, 2019 Author Report Share Posted February 19, 2019 BTW, we had a front blow through yesterday that dropped the humidity down to 45%, I shot two fat heavy coats that went on and remained crystal clear! SR 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andyjr1515 Posted February 19, 2019 Report Share Posted February 19, 2019 Hmmm....just looked up the monthly averages of humidity for our region. Never below 80% and averages around 85 - 87% I suspect there's not enough Behlen's Blush Eraser in the world going to sort that Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted February 20, 2019 Author Report Share Posted February 20, 2019 15 hours ago, Andyjr1515 said: Hmmm....just looked up the monthly averages of humidity for our region. Never below 80% and averages around 85 - 87% I suspect there's not enough Behlen's Blush Eraser in the world going to sort that You should investigate that a little. My area is very similar in averages. But what happens is the mornings start in the mid 90%s and as the day warms up that very often drops to the 50%-60% range. same amount of moisture in the air, but since relative humidity is a percentage based upon the amount of moisture in the air versus the amount of moisture the air is capable of holding. As the air warms up its capacity for holding moisture expands greatly. I don't know if that expansion is linear or geometric....but I do know that many days you cannot safely shoot in the morning, become perfect for it in the afternoon. SR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andyjr1515 Posted February 20, 2019 Report Share Posted February 20, 2019 1 hour ago, ScottR said: You should investigate that a little. My area is very similar in averages. But what happens is the mornings start in the mid 90%s and as the day warms up that very often drops to the 50%-60% range. same amount of moisture in the air, but since relative humidity is a percentage based upon the amount of moisture in the air versus the amount of moisture the air is capable of holding. As the air warms up its capacity for holding moisture expands greatly. I don't know if that expansion is linear or geometric....but I do know that many days you cannot safely shoot in the morning, become perfect for it in the afternoon. SR Yes - you are right, of course. To be honest, I've never taken much notice of humidity. These are monthly averages, let alone the variation over a day. I'll have a dig around and see what the actual fluctuation is. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Natural Posted February 20, 2019 Report Share Posted February 20, 2019 its been an absolute swamp here in Georgia this winter. the ground is like walking on a sponge- and trees are starting to uproot from winds. we have a forecast to have rain thru till March. unreal. I like to shoot lacquer if under 55%- and no rain in forecast for 24 hrs minimum. Even then- I shoot wicked thin coats. mist coats most would call them- thinned pretty heavily and no more than 2 or maybe three if its really dry. I hate having to sand back- and I have done it too many times where blush eraser didnt do the trick. i could probably do better if I invested in some decent spray equipment and not use Preval sprayers. regardless- its near impossible to get decent spraying weather here once mid June hits- and then thru until early september. the air is heavy wet down here during those months. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post ScottR Posted February 26, 2019 Author Popular Post Report Share Posted February 26, 2019 I ordered another can of blush eraser and a can of retarder....and the weather cooperated enough finally that I didn't need them. I got my clear all shot. SR 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted February 26, 2019 Author Report Share Posted February 26, 2019 After five days of hanging I gently started the leveling process. I like to do this fairly early in the curing stage. Breaking the surface of the nitro helps it outgas, and removing some of the thickness leaves less to need to cure. Both should help it cure sooner. I'm not as concerned with shrinkage on this build, since I have that nice layer of polyester( actually might be polystyrene) sealing the pores. SR 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mistermikev Posted February 26, 2019 Report Share Posted February 26, 2019 wow, the gloss looks really nice but then seeing it flat... that looks really nice too! I suppose your going to wet sand it up to gloss again but... really look nice flat! nice work. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
psikoT Posted February 26, 2019 Report Share Posted February 26, 2019 The pics in a cloudy day look much better that the ones under direct sunlight you're used to shoot. Can't wait to see it once is assembled... so far is looking tremendous. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted February 26, 2019 Author Report Share Posted February 26, 2019 3 hours ago, mistermikev said: wow, the gloss looks really nice but then seeing it flat... that looks really nice too! I suppose your going to wet sand it up to gloss again but... really look nice flat! nice work. That happens to me in every build....that matte finish looks so good....but I have a need to see what the gloss looks like, and then I don't want to go back. In this case matte is not an option, or at least as it is in this stage. The camera is not picking up all the sanding scratched that make it look matte. SR 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mistermikev Posted February 26, 2019 Report Share Posted February 26, 2019 can always sand it up to 400 and stop... just sayin! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted February 26, 2019 Author Report Share Posted February 26, 2019 1 hour ago, psikoT said: The pics in a cloudy day look much better that the ones under direct sunlight you're used to shoot. Can't wait to see it once is assembled... so far is looking tremendous. Thanks and I agree about cloudy diffused light looking better. But I'll always probably include a few in bright sunlight as well. I do love to see what happens to the wood in that light as well. SR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
komodo Posted February 26, 2019 Report Share Posted February 26, 2019 5 hours ago, ScottR said: That happens to me in every build....that matte finish looks so good....but I have a need to see what the gloss looks like, and then I don't want to go back. EVERY. single. time. Glad it's not just me! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted February 26, 2019 Author Report Share Posted February 26, 2019 5 hours ago, mistermikev said: can always sand it up to 400 and stop... just sayin! No.....I can't. SR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mistermikev Posted February 26, 2019 Report Share Posted February 26, 2019 13 minutes ago, ScottR said: No.....I can't. SR well I really wish you would so I wouldn't have to do something in flat now that I've seen how cool yours looks! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted February 26, 2019 Author Report Share Posted February 26, 2019 I've only done one in a flat finish. It was a teak oil finish called "not yer normal SS." And I still really want to see how it would have polished up. SR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mistermikev Posted February 26, 2019 Report Share Posted February 26, 2019 23 minutes ago, ScottR said: I've only done one in a flat finish. It was a teak oil finish called "not yer normal SS." And I still really want to see how it would have polished up. SR so contrary to popular belief it IS harder to do a flat finish! lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
komodo Posted February 27, 2019 Report Share Posted February 27, 2019 SR - on my metal tele build, doing oil / wax on the pau ferro kindof satiated that desire for matte and contrasted it with the nitro gloss. It also feels “better” than a matte nitro which either isn’t sanded and polished fully, or has something mixed in the nitro to make it matte. Don’t they use aluminum or something to do that? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted February 27, 2019 Author Report Share Posted February 27, 2019 53 minutes ago, komodo said: SR - on my metal tele build, doing oil / wax on the pau ferro kindof satiated that desire for matte and contrasted it with the nitro gloss. It also feels “better” than a matte nitro which either isn’t sanded and polished fully, or has something mixed in the nitro to make it matte. Don’t they use aluminum or something to do that? Yes, I much prefer oil/matte finishes on necks and do like the contrast with a gloss body too. I'm not sure if the matte additive is aluminum or not; it's certainly some kind of white powder. My experience with matte clears, be it with an additive or just stopping sanding short of a full polish is that over time wear from rubbing against sleeves, guts or what have you, ends up shining those areas as much as the full polish anyway. I don't know if that happens with matte paint finishes. SR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted March 3, 2019 Author Report Share Posted March 3, 2019 This weekend I micromesh sanded using 2400, 3200, and 3600. I decided to give wet sanding another go with this stuff, and got that done yesterday. it all looked good and I thought I's at least get through 4000 today. Upon close examination before starting today I saw that while I was building up a nice shine, I still had a lot of sanding scratches that didn't come out. Wet sanding didn't get it done (at least not quickly enough for me to see any results) so I went back through those three meshes my normal way: sand dry, wipe the dust off on my jeans pant leg and sand some more. I didn't get any further, but it looks better. I must say I was having a tough time telling if I was wiping off lacquer dust or tree pollen. Small gusts were send clouds of yellow dust out of the pine trees in the area this weekend. I couldn't keep it wiped off long enough to take clean shots... SR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RestorationAD Posted March 4, 2019 Report Share Posted March 4, 2019 Looking good SR In my experience Matte finishes are harder to do (without a paint booth) than gloss and eventually wear shiny spots from sleeves and hands. The problem with matte finish is the last coat has to be perfect. No drips, bugs or dust because you can't sand it. I can see 400 grit scratches so that is not an option. I have done some nice semigloss finishes by hand rubbing flat polyurethane over a nice oil finish. That is what several of my favorite guitars have as a finish. It holds up well and because it is semi gloss the shiny spots are not as noticeable. It is also easy to fix and keeps the moisture out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted March 4, 2019 Author Report Share Posted March 4, 2019 43 minutes ago, RestorationAD said: Looking good SR In my experience Matte finishes are harder to do (without a paint booth) than gloss and eventually wear shiny spots from sleeves and hands. The problem with matte finish is the last coat has to be perfect. No drips, bugs or dust because you can't sand it. I can see 400 grit scratches so that is not an option. I have done some nice semigloss finishes by hand rubbing flat polyurethane over a nice oil finish. That is what several of my favorite guitars have as a finish. It holds up well and because it is semi gloss the shiny spots are not as noticeable. It is also easy to fix and keeps the moisture out. I had not considered that option....sounds like the best one I've run across. SR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RestorationAD Posted March 5, 2019 Report Share Posted March 5, 2019 23 hours ago, ScottR said: I had not considered that option....sounds like the best one I've run across. SR I use teak oil + lacquer a lot. I started with tung oil. I liked it but it takes too long to dry and isn't as durable as one would like. I have tried all the other oils and disliked them for various reasons. Designed for gunstocks, patio furniture, doors, end tables, etc... you get the idea. I even made some of my own with linseed oil and beeswax and various varnishes to varying degrees of success. I finally settled on using Behlen Teak Oil for the base. All teak oils are different but the idea is linseed oil, tung oil and a thinner to make them easy to apply and dry well. Behlen seems to have the best mix (Watco is second) most others are garbage. Once the teak oil is dry I move onto a film finish. Almost always use behlen instrument lacquer or minwax polyurethane. I have found that a few light coats of lacquer is nice if you want a shine and a few coats of flat or semi-gloss poly works well if you want it to look and feel like oil finish. I guess I finally answered my questions from this post. https://guitarlogistics.blogspot.com/2011/02/notes-on-oil-finishes.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted March 5, 2019 Author Report Share Posted March 5, 2019 6 minutes ago, RestorationAD said: I use teak oil + lacquer a lot. Now that is something I do as well....although not so much teak oil as Watco Danish oil and tru oil. I like what oil does to deepen the natural colors of the wood, so my normal procedure is to let the body soak up a couple coats or oil, let them dry and then shoot lacquer. I have some Behlen Teak Oil and used it exclusively for one guitar's finish. As you mentioned it takes a bit longer to dry and I feel like the Danish oil deepens the colors just a bit more.....that may just be me. SR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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