Paint Coating

[thewongster]

When I spray a guitar, I heard that many light coats are better then few thick coats, but is 3 seperate spray overs at different intervals, better then 1 "lightcoat"? Should I use Minwax fast drying PolyU rattle can or Defthane PolyU spray can. is there a bad thing about using too much coats? because everyone I notivced who used the minwax used about 3 cans

and im planning about 5

[Southpa]

It depends on what you are covering. I've used 4 or 5 cans of Minwax poly on mahogany that wasn't grain filled. You need that much to fill it to level and then some but I've learned my lesson since then. Always grain fill those open pored woods before painting. Maple is a bit easier, tighter grain and requires less. I usually shoot fairly heavy for the first round, about 3 thick coats over an hour. Thats only so I don't accidentally sand through when scuffing but afterwards I shoot less per session, usually totalling no more than three cans. And those aren't full cans. I've learned to stop using a rattlecan when its about 3/4 the way down. Your spray becomes intermittent, lots of spitting etc. by then. That makes for mistakes that have to be sanded out later.

I've learned a nice trick when coating guitars that have perfectly flat faces, like a tele. I'll shoot the first coats while the guitar is hanging just to cover the edges etc. well but the remainder will be done with the body laying down flat and level. When you shoot it in that position the poly levels out and turns into a mirror finish. The last guitar I did that way didn't even require wetsanding.