Natural Finish Same As Color?

[thebirthofcool]

So I am about ready to start the finishing process on first project. I am a newbie for sure and I appreciate you indulging my sometimes dense questions. Here is todays dumb quesion:

I have been looking for tutorials on finishing in natural (clear lacquer). I jsut want to be sure the process is the same:

Grain fill

sand 320

Grain filler

sand 320

followed by sander sealer and sand 320 X4

Next I can begin to put the clear nitro on right?

If anyone has done this before and thinks of a better way to show the natural wood let me know.

Thanks in advance

[Mattia]

Yes. No different from colour, although I do like to seal first (shellac or something else that'll pop the grain) and then fill, and seal again, and shoot clearcoats.

[guitart]

I just spray high gloss and build layers untill it's thick enough to sand with out sanding through. Then spray once more and sand with 800+ grit

and buff. I don't know if it's right but it works.

[Mattia]

Works if you don't have terribly porous wood, or wood with lots of pores. Some finishes (like nitro, and most solvent based finishes) will pop the wood really quite well indeed, but most waterbased finishing products are a bit crap, and since I tend to use waterbased stuff (or have until now), I add a shellac sealcoat first.

[cukaracha]

What about maple fingerboards? is it the same process?