ryeisnotcool2 Posted September 12, 2003 Report Share Posted September 12, 2003 ok so about six weeks ago i started putting the finish on my hollow body. im using behlen violin varinish. i am applying it with a brush since it flows nice and i will be leveling it off later. the bottle says you can recoat after 2-3 hours so after the first three i checked it and it seemed dry so i did another coat. the next day i repeated these steps once again. to a total of four coats. the product also says it can be rubbed out after 24 hours. well..................... its now six weeks and the finish is still not hard! if you press your finger on it, it will leave a mark. so i have to keep waiting. i talked to a tech guy at stewmac two weeks ago and he said to give it about two weeks because i probably shoudlve waited at least 24 hours between coats. but its now six weeks and i need this thing finished! im in the process of trying to "bake"it by leaving it in a small room with a heater at 95 deg. it fairly dry up hear right now so im hopeing this will work. if any of you know a better idea please let me know Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Posted September 12, 2003 Report Share Posted September 12, 2003 All I can say is ouch bro Well that and I would be worried about drying it to fast on the surface, since it could dry on top and remain slightly wet on the lower layers if your using a standard room heater to dry it. What about using a fan to just circulate air around it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ryeisnotcool2 Posted September 12, 2003 Author Report Share Posted September 12, 2003 well, the heater im using has a built in fan. it circulates the air pretty good. i checked it this morning and it seems to be working so im gonna bake it for one more day, and pray that it will work! i'd like to enter it in this new comp. if i can get it done in time. but i still need to buy pups and tuners and of coarse the cash flow is tight this month! oh well maybe it will all work out? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thermopyle Posted September 12, 2003 Report Share Posted September 12, 2003 well, for a pickup endorsement, try www.vintagevibeguitars.com - pete is a great guy and can build to spec pretty quickly. serious quality workmanship too, and of course great tone. thermo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ryeisnotcool2 Posted September 12, 2003 Author Report Share Posted September 12, 2003 yeah ive looked at his pups on ebay,they were soapbars and looked very nice! but ididnt know how they sounded but since you speak highly i might look into them. thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drak Posted September 13, 2003 Report Share Posted September 13, 2003 'Tacky' varnish... 1) The air is too cold 2) There is uncured oil in the wood 3) The wood is an oily wood like Ebony, Teak, or Rosewood I hate to say this, but if it hasn't cured in 6 weeks, you might have to strip it and try again. It shouldn't take that long. To me, stripping finishes is a way of life with guitar-building. I've stripped more finishes than I ever care to tell you about, but I've just gotten used to it, it's (sometimes) just part of the process. You curse a few times, strip it off, and just get on with it again until you get it right. What kind of wood is it, and tell us the steps you used leading up to the application of the varnish. Also, you might have gotten an old can. Any date-codes? Varnish (as a rule) dries to a very hard surface. Also, it is recommended that you wait 24 hours between coats w/ most varnishes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
butnut Posted September 13, 2003 Report Share Posted September 13, 2003 well, for a pickup endorsement, try www.vintagevibeguitars.com - pete is a great guy and can build to spec pretty quickly. serious quality workmanship too, and of course great tone. thermo I second that! Just got my CC Rider (Charlie Christian style) pup from Pete. Unbelievable fast service, he wound and made the guard in less than a week! Super nice guy, kept in touch throughout and this pup kicks ass. Like a fat Strat and P90 sound with a Jazz quality. Uber kool and mixed with my Lil 59, it's awesome. Great price too. Thanks Pete! http://www.montypics.com/pic.php?url=/butn...05_0538_IMG.jpg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canuckguitarist Posted September 13, 2003 Report Share Posted September 13, 2003 Hahaha, on a side note, where did you find that "holy-crap" toggle switch plate? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ryeisnotcool2 Posted September 13, 2003 Author Report Share Posted September 13, 2003 the guitar is walnut back, the neck and top are mahogany. all the wood is dry and has been naturally dried for many years. i sanded the guitar to 350 grit before using the varnish.i didnt use a sanding sealer though. maybe i should have? i think im gonna start stripping it down and then i'll reapply the varnish but im gonna let each coat cure for at least 24 hours! i'll probably apply it with a balled up rag kinda like in the french polishing tutorial. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
butnut Posted September 13, 2003 Report Share Posted September 13, 2003 Hahaha, on a side note, where did you find that "holy-crap" toggle switch plate? I made it using the stock Gibby 'donuts', wipe off the letters, sand with 2000 and use Olde English rub on lettering. Clear with lacquer or poly. I'm making some for my friends on the Telemodders site, Holy Crap is a phrase I use a lot there so I made a donut for my last Tele. I also made the control plates, heres some pics... http://community.webshots.com/album/56197873dTyLfI My Tele-Gib donut... Sorry ryeisnotcool2 for sidetracking here...I had a furniture resto biz and did a lot of refinish, but I used varnish maybe once about 20 years ago. There are so many better finishes to use, is there any reason why you use varnish? I know it has a nice deep amber to it, but so can lacquer. Have to agree about stripping and starting over. The best product I've found for removal is Kleen Strip lacquer and varnish remover...in a yellow and brown can. Works fast, perfect for antiques and won't mess with the grain. It's water thin. Wear gloves, and have a lot of rags. Use a 'remover wash' after you strip it to remove all residue and bits of stripper/varnish. Good luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ryeisnotcool2 Posted September 13, 2003 Author Report Share Posted September 13, 2003 i used violin varnish because its beutiful! and because the guitar has f holes and looks very "classy" so i wanted to enhance the character of it and make it look violin like. i personally hate laquer! it takes forever to cure and ive had bad luck with it in the past. but who knows i might start using it again? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drak Posted September 13, 2003 Report Share Posted September 13, 2003 If it were me and what happened to you happened to me, this is what I would do. I wouldn't use any sanding sealer (I never use that stuff anyway) I'd wait 24 hours between coats and probably steel-wool or lightly sand with a high grit between each coat. I'd find another bottle to use. My best guess is somewhere between the varnish maybe being old and the coats not having enough cure-time between applications. Before I would ever use that bottle on my guitar again, I'd do some testing on scrap waiting 24 hours between coats and see how that goes... PS, in my finishing 'bible', it does say that for a wipe-on finish, varnish is your best bet, so I wouldn't discount it as a finish, just maybe that bottle... PPS, stash this in the 'FWIW' dept., but I've found that I've picked up some of my most valuable information from making mistakes, and I've made hundreds! ...So don't look at the re-fin as a suck thing, it's not, you're just picking up information as you progress. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ryeisnotcool2 Posted September 13, 2003 Author Report Share Posted September 13, 2003 thanks for the help drak. i think your plan is is the same one im thinkin of doin. im gonna call the dealer that i bought the product from and find out when they bought it to see if its to old. but im also gonna try it on some srap wood starting tonight! i started stripping the guitar. i got the neck mostly done except for the head stock. the craved body still needs more work though. but i will keep ya informed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
butnut Posted September 14, 2003 Report Share Posted September 14, 2003 A violin varnish...kool, first time I've heard of it and it sounds like it will give you the look you want for your guitar. Must be an 'olde world' type of formula made the old way and I'll bet those kinds of finish have a shelf life probably a lot shorter than the modern stuff. The school of trial and error is something anyone persistant in what they do is how we all aquire the knowledge to do it better. Again, good luck. Any chance you could contact the manufacturer and ask them what the problem could be? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ryeisnotcool2 Posted September 15, 2003 Author Report Share Posted September 15, 2003 well, i stripped the guitar it only took about 2 hrs, so im gonna resand the bugger and retry but first im gonna make some test pieces from scraps i have. im thinkin i'll test the varnish first and if all is well i will try the guitar again. im gonna coat the test peices as i go so after each day i can just check the test peices to see if the finish is hard. but first i'll just try the test peice then tommorow i'll check it. wish me luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canuckguitarist Posted September 15, 2003 Report Share Posted September 15, 2003 good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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