Your Feelings On Rattlecan Vs. Liquid Laquers?

[Tony Balls]

Okay......so I think i'm going with Deft laquer and sanding sealer for a guitar i'm finishing, but I'm trying to figure whether I want to use a brushable liquid or a rattlecan. I suppose what I want to know is, are there any major disadvantages of using a brushable liquid?

Background info: I live in Brooklyn, NY and have limited space. Using any kind of aerosol spray finish means working on my roof and is somewhat of a hassle, especially during the hours with which the finish needs to dry. Using a brushable would mean, theoretically, less mess and so I could do it inside in a well vetilated room.

So.....gimme your thoughts!

[mledbetter]

i'm pretty sure the deft in a can has a lot of retarder in it to make it brushable which means longer dry time, longer stink time. Don't know that it would be an advantage for using indoors.

Deft in the rattle can dries pretty darn fast. If you wanted to speed up the process, search for one of the IR heat lamp discussions.

[Southpa]

Regardless of aerosol or brushable laquer, don't think you can do it inside unless you have well ventilated facilities. Your guitar is going to stink for weeks after application. If you can smell it then its not good for you, thats a rule of thumb. You can't just paint your guitar with laquer and then bring it inside and watch it dry. Its still gassing off.

Edited May 31, 2005 by Southpa

[Devon Headen]

Spray cans. It's just really hard to get a good finish with brushing lacquer. I'm not saying it can't be done, it's just more difficult.

[woodsman1031]

Did you use the brush on or spray can?

I need to finish one and I am curious of your results!

Tommy

[frank falbo]

I've brushed Deft from the can. It's currently on my Ash/Mahogany coffee table in the living room. I've used it on headstocks. It can go on pretty thick, but then it takes a long time to cure. It also shrinks back for a long time. My classical headstock overlay and bridge are highly figured Walnut. The headstock was great, it's a perfect mirror finish. But for now I've steel wooled the bridge to satin because it's really sculpted, and every time I'd think I had the buff perfect a few grain holes would open up. I should've used grain filler, but I figured for something so small I could just saturate it with the finish. (I have a gallon of it)

I also have a 7-string that's solid quilted maple. I used it on that, too with no filler since the grain is so tight. I haven't buffed it yet, but I'm very happy with it. It's a very efficient way to get a good build fast, if you don't need shader coats, and if it will not run/bleed your stain or undercoat. Because you're brushing it, every coat is "wet" so it will re-flow anything that is compatible underneath. The 7-string has water based aniline, and it was fine.

Everyone else is right about the ventilation. You'd better wear something or go outside regardless of what you use. The thing I like about the brushable is that it skins over pretty quickly, so I can paint it somewhere, and then bring it to the garage or outside to finish curing without fear of it picking up dust. I did my coffee table in the dusty garage and it skinned over before anything really got in there. I've used it mostly on furniture but as I get to know it more I've found uses for it on guitars. Headstocks are my favorite. It seems like it was made for that. You can lay it on thick, it's self levelling, and it seems to cover and fill in one or two coats. Then it buffs easily. It may not be as durable as a pro-grade gun nitro, but on headstocks it doesn't have to be. Plus in your case you're comparing it to rattle can. It's definitely as durable as that.

[woodsman1031]

I've brushed Deft from the can. It's currently on my Ash/Mahogany coffee table in the living room. I've used it on headstocks. It can go on pretty thick, but then it takes a long time to cure. It also shrinks back for a long time

What do you mean by shrinking back?  I planned on finishing a guitar body with it do you think it will be adequate?

Tommy

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[frank falbo]

It's adequate, but like everything you should practice on scrap before using it on your guitar body. In my case I "practiced" on a bunch of furniture and other woodworking. I only decided to use in on headstocks and a guitar body once I was familiar with it's characteristics, most of which I listed out above. Shrinking back is after you think the whole thing is dry, and you buff it, for several weeks/months it will still sink into the wood's pores. It's also the lacquer loses more solvents and physically gets thinner. So that's why on my headstock overlay it was fine. The 1/16" overlay is backed by a glue joint. The lacquer has no place to go. Plus, most electric headstocks without an overlay are Maple, so there's minimal shrink back there because it's so tight grained. The reason it kept shrinking back into the bridge was because it was a thicker, solid piece of wood. If you have a porous wood and you fill the grains first, then it should be fine. If you have a Maple guitar it's fine too. That's why I decided to use it on my solid quilt Maple 7-string.

Saying it takes a long time to cure is almost the same as saying it shrinks back for a long time. But a finish can remain "less than cured" and still not migrate into the pores of the wood.