Easy Guitar Finish For The Impatient Amateur

[coldbeer]

I envy those who can take a piece of wood and make it look like glass. I have my talents, but fine wood finishing isn't one of them.

Here's a recipe I used to get an acceptably good result on a very very rough strat body:

1) Sand down finish to wood.

2) Use Bondo and put a thin coating over front and back.

3) Sand bondo with 100 grit sandpaper with orbital sander.

4) Use 180 grit sanding sponge to finish smooth - bondo is very easy to get smooth.

5) Spray with 3 coats of Rust-oleum "Hammered" unique Spray paint - following instructions on can - No primer needed goes on great over bare wood, bondo, and other paint.

6) Let dry for 2 days.

7) Spray with polyurethane clear gloss finish.

The guitar body will have the hammered metal look as on the cap of the rust-oleum.

[Pr3Va1L]

Would you mind showing an exemple of the result?

[rhoads56]

the question that gets raised now is...

if you can get BONDO smooth, why whouldnt you bother sanding the wood smooth to begin with and avoiding the bondo stage altogether?

[Nitefly SA]

also, why does the wood need to be smooth if you apply a hammered finish anyway?

[Dino]

the question that gets raised now is...

if you can get BONDO smooth, why whouldnt you bother sanding the wood smooth to begin with and avoiding the bondo stage altogether?

1) to seal the grain

2) to serve as a primer

Personally, I'd prefer using a dedicated wood sealer and primer for rattlecans.

For urethane, I use an epoxy primer/sealer.

It's really all a matter of preference and what gives YOU the best results IMO.