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Stolysmaster

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About Stolysmaster

  • Birthday February 29

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    Firestone, Colorado
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    Composing, recording, and playing with The Dr. Izzy Band- Blues/BluesRock/AmericanaBlues>Currently promoting & supporting new CD "Blind & Blues Bound" w/Dr. Izzy on Vocals, Produced by Kenny Passarelli (Bass w/Joe Walsh, Elton John, Hall & Oates, Stephen Stills, Dan Fogelberg, etc.). Guests on CD: James Cotton & Otis Taylor

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  1. Yes, thanks @ScottRand @Bizman62for this info and the link. Because I would be doing White, I am wondering if a Catalized Varnish clear at the end would less susceptible to yellowing over time compared to Nitro lacquer...?
  2. I haven't posted on this forum in quite a few years, and doing a search for this topic in previous posts has not yielded any results with much time spent already. So...I thought I would simply ask if anyone can give me advice on doing an opaque white pearl finish on a guitar. I will lacquer it with clear nitro on top of the white. I might even try a clear catalyzed acrylic finish (?) that I have read about here instead of nitro. I have a lot of experience with transparent nitro finishes, but have never done one opaque and don't know how to start! Thanks in advance for any input.
  3. I had sprayed some of the extra from the can (diluted to 85%/15% Polyacrylic/water) on some hard maple; part of it stained, part un-stained. Last night I sanded with some 600, then 1000, then 1500, then buffed with a polish...didn't want to go through the usual routine with all the graduating grits 'cause I was in a hurry. When done, I was pleasantly surprised that I did not see any cloudiness, even looking straight on. I checked again in the sunlight this morning and it still looked very nice. Maybe my eyes are not quite as discerning as MiKro's! Good chance I will use this on the next guitar...the custom Ibanez Artist with mahogany back from old Kalamazoo billets and white limba neck and top.
  4. Yes, lacquer definitely "shrinks forever", and the fumes are horrendous! But it looks and sounds great when applied fairly thin. The reason I commented about the sound of thick finishes is that I have stripped and refinished four 1982 Ibanez Artist guitars that were opaque finishes from the factory. They were all coated with the most incredibly thick and extremely hard to remove gunk finishes. But after being refinished with relatively thin amounts of Nitro-lacquer over stain; the tonal difference was nothing short of astounding. All kinds of high end sparkle and openness / airiness emerged from each guitar in every case! Harmonics bloomed easier and faster, and all guitars had a bit more sustain as well. I never would have thought that something so seemingly minute would make such a change...but it did. Lacquer is also easy to touch up and repair if necessary, since it "melts" into itself with additional coats. But it is not without problems...shrinking being one of the worst. And it is not very durable; chips easily, and many substances will disolve it or mess it up. Once, I had refinished a stock black Gibson Flying V (it had considerable orange peel from the factory) with a beautiful Gibson style Cherry Nitro finish. I had just put deet bug spray on my hands and applied it to my neck and around my ankles so mesquitoes would not eat me alive while having some pics taken with the guitar outdoors down in Texas. Well, when I touched the back of the neck with my hands, having residual bug spray on them, the nitro finish began to literally melt in my hand!!! And once, after a gig here in Colorado about twelve years ago, I left one of those refifnished Ibanez Artists in my vehicle overnight, and the temperature dropped to the low twenties during the night. The next day, in the right light, I noticed cracks all over the top of the guitar!!
  5. Killemall8; Wow! We have VERY different experiences with straight polyurethane. I have found it to be a pretty SOFT finish, very often being able to put a mark in it with my fingernail. I have always thought that the reason I have NEVER seen polyurethane crack is because it is so soft and pliable. But maybe I'm wrong about that. MiKro; glad to hear about your experience with polyacrylic. I'm doing some experimenting with what I have left over from the rocking chair, and will see if I get the same results you have had; that is, being not as glossy when viewed straight on...very interesting. Thus far I have still not noticed any "blue" color effect on the unstained maple I sprayed as an experiment. Thanks to both of you for your input. As far as sound goes, I suppose the usual applies...as long as it is a hard finish and I keep it fairly thin, I don't think it should deaden the sound of a guitar or diminish the high end "sparkle" like so many thick finishes do.
  6. Well, this is poly/acrylic blend, not a pure polyurethane, so I wonder what the differences are (?). I have not noticed any blue tint, but it is going on top of a brown stain. I will try spraying some on a piece of maple to see if it dries with a blue tint. So far it seems to be noticeably harder than polyurethane, but I'll have to wait until I've built up the finish a bit more to get a better take on the hardness. One thing is sure; it sprays very nicely, and is more forgiving and more self leveling (especially on vertical surfaces) than nitro-lacquer. I would really like to see some other opinions on "poly-acrylic", or polyurethane/acrylic blends. Thanks.
  7. What's the latest word on polyacrylic finishes? The reason I ask is that I was just doing some touch up/restoration work on an old rocking chair the wife inherited, and so far I'm having tremendous results spraying General Finishes Polyacrylic Water Based Top Coat. I'm wondering what people think of this finish for a guitar because it is so easy. I don't know how it will buff out when dried enough, and I'm not going to gloss up the finish on this piece of furniture anyway. For a guitar: How much does this stuff shrink? How hard does polyacrylic get? Does polyacrylic yellow much over time? How durable is it? Just looking for some feedback on this finish for a guitar; please!
  8. Great info and advice Westhemann,thanks. The guitar won't even be started until after the new year, so it will be awhile before it gets to that point. But I'm excited about using the SW WW CV as a finish.
  9. I checked, and it looks like I'll have to buy a whole gallon of the Sherwood Water White Conversion Varnish because a Sherwin-Williams store guy told me it does not come in quarts. $65/Gallon; not a bad price, but WAY more than I would need. I'd surely have to experiment to see how thin of a finish I could get away with and still have enough on to sand and polish without any sand-throughs. Fully cured in 24 hours?! WOW!! I'm gonna see if I can find the spraying instructions to find out what size spraying tip they recommend. I can't say enough about how great that finish looks in the pics Westhemann. Are you using xylene as a reducer/thinner? Spraying two or three coats?
  10. Man, that Catalytic Varnish looks AMAZING. Really nice work Westhemann! I will check into it. Did you spray that on? If so, what size tip did you use on your gun?
  11. Is Rustins Plastic Coating available in the US? I have searched the web and cannot find it here.
  12. Very interesting reading and info Westhemann. I have just assumed that alcohol that is drinkable would damage my Nitro finished guitars. Good to know that it won't! However, I HAVE severely damaged the Nitro finish on furniture with acetone - happens in a heartbeat! Maybe I'll just stick with Nitro again when this one is finished. I was just looking for something a little easier than spraying lacquer fot the next one, with all the usual problems that can arise; orange peel to sand out, the occasional drip or two to fix, waiting for it to harden enough to polish, watching it crack when a tuner nut or pot nut is tightened too much, or when a pickup mounting ring screw is tightened to much, the fumes, etc. I'm just kind of tired of all that with Nitro. But I must admit that I am NOT a patient man. I believe this is where many of my problems come into play! When I finish a guitar, I want to play it, Actually, I want to play it long before it's finished!
  13. But Nitro might as well not be hard either, because it cracks and dents so easily when banged. Nitro is a beautiful finish, which is why I've sprayed it on all my other guitars. However, I do not consider Nitro to be durable AT ALL! And God help you if you spill any kind of alcoholic drink on it!
  14. I was actually wondering about that, but Birchwood-Casey makes a "Tru-Oil Sealer" for their Tru-Oil, to be used before the Oil. One website about finishing guitars with Tru-Oil - http://www.lmii.com/carttwo/truoil.htm - recommends using the Sealer, then filling the grain, then using the Sealer again, all before using the actual Tru-Oil. So that has me confused.
  15. So, based on what you have said I think it would be best to bleach the entire body, mask off the top and back, seal the faux binding edge with a single coat of shellac or lacquer, grain fill and sand the rest of the body -top and back, mask the faux binding area and stain the rest of the body, THEN SHELLAC OR LACQUER THE ENTIRE BODY TO PREVENT THE TRU-OIL FROM PENETRATING UNDER THE PREVIOUSLY SHALLECED FAUX BINDING AREA, THEN apply Tru-Oil to the entire thing. Does that sound right? And, what is better to put under the Tru-Oil as a sealer; Shellac or Nitro? I'm thinking shellac.
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