guitar2005 Posted August 3, 2005 Report Share Posted August 3, 2005 Hey, I've searched for some info on this but I've had a lot of trouble getting answers. I've built a Randy Rhoads polka dot V. I filled the grain with a shellac based sanding sealer. For the color and clear coats I used dupli-color auto lacquer which is acrylic based (which I chose over nitro for its greater resitance to chipping). I've used the dupli-color on a separate project and it worked fine, although I had less coats of paint because it was a re-finish/touch up job. I started with 4 coats of black which I sanded back a couple of days later to smooth it out. Then, I masked the guitar for the white dots which were sprayed in two heavy coats. Over this, I sprayed 6-8 coats of clear which I also sanded back twice to get a smooth finish (3-4 coats, sand, wait two weeks then another 3-4 coats). When sanding these coats back, I actually sanded to the level of the white dots in some areas. The goal was the get the dots level with the clear coat. To completely finish the guitar, I sprayed a final 3 coats and sanded that back. I waited about a month before buffing the whole thing. I had a couple of small spots that buffed through around the edges. 2 weeks later, I final polished the guitar with Turtle Wax minor scratch remover. The guitar is now very shiny BUT the finish has gone soft on me. Its wasn't super hard before the final polish but it seems the polishing made things worse. Its marks very easily with a fingernail and even with fabric. I put the guitar hanging (so the paint doesn't touch anything) in my basement in a room with a dehumidifier. Its been 3 days and the nail test is showing that its not as soft as 3 days ago but I'm worried still about this now... What I'm wondering is how long should I wait for the finish to cure so I can put it in a case and not worry about it getting marked by the fabric? What are teh ideal conditions for the finish to cure? Did I do something wrong? Please help! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Devon Headen Posted August 4, 2005 Report Share Posted August 4, 2005 Time is the only thing that's gonna cure the paint. I know a lot of people have had problems with duplicolor clear not curing well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ubersam Posted August 4, 2005 Report Share Posted August 4, 2005 I used dupli clear and it's been curing for the past couple of weeks and it still hasn't passed the nail test. I'll give it a couple more weeks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc Posted August 4, 2005 Report Share Posted August 4, 2005 There are two things that affect the cure time of finishes that cure by evaporation. One is temperature. If you hang the axe in an air conditioned damp basement it will take forever. Get it in a warm room. The warmer the better. The other is moving air. If you put a small fan directly on it it will cure a lot faster. The last one can be argued but I have done a bunch of fiddling with this over the years and I've found that a fan really speeds up the cure time. When you are doing woodworking for a living and have to get a table top shot out, rubbed out and delivered so that you can keep the lights on you learn some tricks. To speed it up a lot you can put a couple of infra reds on it along with a fan. You can get heat lamp bulbs at you local homeowner's warehouse. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uglogirl Posted August 4, 2005 Report Share Posted August 4, 2005 wow I just put 8 coats of duplicolor acrylic lacquer on a body and it hardened enough to sand a run out. That's weird. Uglogirl Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ubersam Posted August 4, 2005 Report Share Posted August 4, 2005 wow I just put 8 coats of duplicolor acrylic lacquer on a body and it hardened enough to sand a run out. That's weird. Uglogirl ← ding it with your nail and let us know if it leaves a mark, if it does, it's not the kind of 'hard' we want. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guitar2005 Posted August 4, 2005 Author Report Share Posted August 4, 2005 wow I just put 8 coats of duplicolor acrylic lacquer on a body and it hardened enough to sand a run out. That's weird. Uglogirl ← Sanding is not a problem. I've sanded the clear twice between coats. Run out sanded out no prob. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guitar2005 Posted August 4, 2005 Author Report Share Posted August 4, 2005 There are two things that affect the cure time of finishes that cure by evaporation. One is temperature. The other is moving air. If you put a small fan directly on it it will cure a lot faster. The last one can be argued but I have done a bunch of fiddling with this over the years and I've found that a fan really speeds up the cure time. When you are doing woodworking for a living and have to get a table top shot out, rubbed out and delivered so that you can keep the lights on you learn some tricks. To speed it up a lot you can put a couple of infra reds on it along with a fan. You can get heat lamp bulbs at you local homeowner's warehouse. ← Thanks for the info. I'll get the infra reds asap. I just put a fan in front of the guitar. One of the things I've noticed is that in the areas that I did not buff/polish the guitar (in the control cavities - where there's also less paint), the finish is pretty hard. Its the buffed/polished areas that are problematic. I wonder if the Turtle Wax scratch & Swirl remover may have caused a reaction with the lacquer. Does anyone have experience with the turtle wax? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guitar2005 Posted August 9, 2005 Author Report Share Posted August 9, 2005 (edited) To speed it up a lot you can put a couple of infra reds on it along with a fan. You can get heat lamp bulbs at you local homeowner's warehouse. ← Thanks the the tip. I got the infra red light. its about 18" away from the guitar right now. How long should I put the light on the guitar? Edited August 9, 2005 by guitar2005 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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