Jump to content

Polishing tutorial


Recommended Posts

[quote name='Mattia' post='334518' date='Jun 16 2007, 02:56 AM']Really, really not the case.

Sanding everything level with 2 to 4 grits of sandpaper (starting with 1200 if at all possible, moving up to 1500 or 2000) already takes the better part of an hour or two, and to do a really good polishing job, you're going to need that amount of time again. At the very least.[/quote]


sanding....? sanding is done during the final polishing...? i think you're mistaken. i just meant the polishing compound, not from sanding the clear.. :D

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 53
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

If you go back and re-read my posts I sanded with;

dry
400
600

wet
800
1000
1200
1500
2000

After the sanding is done, I used;

medium polishing compound
fine polishing pompound
swirl remover

When I polished, I did the front and rear with a buffer, (about five minutes each side per compound) and then the sides and edges with a nitrile gloved hand, there again about five minutes for the sides and edges.

This is going to take a while longer than five minutes! Five hours would be closer with all of the sanding and polishing.

Edited by J_48_Johnson
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 year later...

[quote name='LGM Guitars' post='14203' date='Jul 13 2003, 09:23 AM']Ok, there have been a lot of paint and polishing questions asked recently, so I thought I'd do a brief description of the polishing process, first here is a list of what I use for polishing.

Stew mac Polishing compounds #1, 2, 3, and 4 (coarse, medium, fine, extra fine)
Micro cut sandpaper 2000 grit (unless my spray job sucked then I start with 1200, 1500, and then 2000)

Stew mac foam buffing pad and electric drill (soon I will have a nice big buffing wheel in the new shop though) x4 One for each compound

Water

Ivory hand soap

Patience.

Elbow grease.


Ok, This will be assumed that you have a nice clear coated body (see [url="http://projectguitar.ibforums.com/index.php?act=ST&f=10&t=1362&hl=painting+tutorial"]The painting tutorial[/url] I did for painting and applying clear)

Difference being from that painting tutorial that I usually put on about 10 coats of clear on a guitar body before final polishing is done.

So, once the paint is good and cured, we go to step one.

Step one: Sanding
First thing you need to do, is sand out all imperfections or built up edges, if you sprayed well and the paint flowed out nice this won't take very long. It generally takes me about 1 and a half hours to sand out a body starting with 2000 grit. You'll want to do this with some water with ivory hand soap mixed in. Yes use Ivory, it is the only soap on the market that is 99% oil free. (you want oil free in case you should sand to deep or discover you need to spray another coat of clear for some reason)
Sanding always in one direction (I always sand lengthways on the body) use a semi hard block and level the entire body. If you have dust spots or really large built up edges use a hard block to knock them down, then go to a semi hard block (I really like the foam block you get with micromesh)

I start with the top of the guitar as this is usually the most difficult to sand because of all the cavities. Unless there is a dust speck or something on the very edge, don't sand the edges, the clear is always the thinnest there and it doesn't take long to cut through an edge. Then do the back, and then the sides, the worst part is in the horns, this is also where the clear always seems to stay the roughest so it takes a bit longer than the rest. When you do the perimiter, I sand with the body all the way around, never across the sides, just always along them.

Sand until the entire guitar (except the edges) is an overall dull flat sheen, if you see shiny spots, keep sanding, these will become awful looking marks once it's all shiny again.

Step 2: Coarse cutting (if you have sprayed with laquer, you can skip this step as laquer is far softer than the Poly's I spray)

Apply the cutting compound all over the top of the guitar with a rag. Mount your drill with the foam pad on it on your work bench (I used to hold the drill and secure the body, but that was stupid, this is so much easier) I run about 1500rpm. Using a good amount of pressure, cut the entire top. The compound will fly everywhere, so use old clothes, a shop coat, and safety glasses, a particle mask is a good idea too. I personally start with the lower half of the top and work through the cavities and stuff. You'll notice alot of shine come back with even the coarse. Keep wiping it clean and applying compound until you can't see the 2000 scratches anymore. BE CAREFUL AROUND EDGES!!!!!!! NEVER let the wheel come into the edge, I always polish so that the rotating wheel is going OFF the edge, there are 2 reasons for this.
1: If you are letting the wheel come into the edge, there is way more pressure and cutting through the paint is far more likely.
2: If it grabs a corner, you run the risk of the body being taken from your hands and zinged across the room (have had a couple close calls but never actually lost a body yet :D )

Oh, during all the cutting stages, you'll want to also wear rubber gloves, this crap will be messy, and the rubber gloves also helps you to hold onto the rather greasy compound.

Now do the back the same way. Then the sides, but be very careful on the sides, you don't want to burn through an edge. Inside the horns is very difficult, you can do these by hand if you want, but the foam pads will reach all the way in, even on the deep scoops of an ibanez body, but watch out for the plastic backer on the pad, it will cut into your clear in a big hurry.

Step three: Medium compound

Basically repeat step two with the Medium, just make sure to use a NEW pad and clean all the coarse compound off before you start with the medium.

The guitar will really start to shine now, keep wiping the body and checking for any deep scratches that are left over and get rid of them. At this point you will also start to notice that if you didn't sand everything flat all the marks are starting to show badly again. You might want to resand at this stage before you get to far into it. At this stage, when you wipe the body clean, use a soft cotten pad, not paper towel as it will put in scratches.

Step four: Fine compound

Same thing again with fine now. I use a little more pressure with the fine though (again use a NEW pad). Now this thing is starting to glow, with the fine compound I also hit all the edges now, but still be careful, just the foam pad alone will cut through an edge if you use to much pressure or leave it there to long.

Again, wipe it all down and look it over, it should look pretty close to factory finish now.

Step five: Extra fine (swirl remover)

This step is basically the same except I use 2000RPM and light pressure, you are now just buffing the body, not cutting, you dont' want to put heat marks or rub marks into the clear at this point. Again use a new pad and just do small area's at a time with the swirl remover, a little bit of this stuff goes a LOOOOOOONNNNNNNGGGGGG way, and it flings all over everything. Once you've gone over the entire guitar with this, wipe it all down once more and check everything, make sure it's perfect, if you have to go back, go back.

Step six: Finishing

Wipe it all down with a flannel cloth, and if you want, put some wax on it, I use meguire's automotive wax and then clean it all down with some Dunlop guitar polish once I'm done waxing (I wax by hand) then when you assemble, be sure to always set the body on flannel cloth. If you scratch it and it's your guitar, it's a piss off, if you scratch it and it's a customer guitar, it's a nightmare!


Hope this has been helpful to everyone, next time I polish out a body I will take pics of the process and add them to this thread.

If you have any questions please feel free to ask :D

Jeremy[/quote]

can you do the pics thread? or.... i mean have you yet?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...