Clear Coat Options For Over A Sharpie

[jlarremore]

I've been assigned a project by default. Seems a kid in the church youth group promised to re-finish a guitar for the youth minister. I guided him through the process and he did pretty good. The finish is plain white and the kids in the youth group are supposed to sign the guitar with a Sharpie.

From a totally unrelated project I knew that the Sharpie and Poly don't mix - the poly makes the Sharpie run. So I had some spare lacquer on hand and tried that. The Sharpie ran. Yikes! ( BTW - I'm testing this on an inconspicuous spot on the guitar, the kids have not signed it yet.)

So I'm wondering what my options are for clear finishing this guitar given the two main methods I use will make the signatures run? I'm pretty sure a different type of marker will give me the same results.

Any advice on what pieces of this puzzle I can change or try? Or should I put the poly on then let them sign it?

As for use, the minister is going to mount it on the wall or something so it's not going to get a lot of play.

[kpcrash]

If it's not going to be used - the sharpie can be on top. Might want to consider using a quick coat of shellac before signing. I had a friend doing basically the same concept - had his kids all sign it and write a message to him, then I cleared it for him. We put a thin coat of shellac on more worried about making sure the sharpies stuck. Sprayed with rattlecan clear gloss acrylic lacquer and no problems.

[jlarremore]

Thanks Crash.

Is the rattle can clear gloss acrylic lacquer different than the two I've got pictured. I have limited access to finished. If I go to Home Depot, what do I get?

Jef

[Southpa]

This reminds me of a co-worker who won a strat with Jeff Healy's signature in a radio contest. You would think that whoever was giving the guitar away would make sure the signature had some staying power. He looked around for some way to cover it then forgot about it. The guy is not a painter and not even a musician but somehow the signature got wore away. And now that JH has recently passed away?...oh well

[jlarremore]

Ya ... that doesn't make me feel better Southpa ...

[low end fuzz]

one of your definate problems in my opinion is your selection of finish;

its making the sharpie run because of the HUGE amount of thinner in aerosol cans;

definately try shellac (scrap first) lay down whatever finish between the marker and wood of course, but brush on a little shellac; resisting to rub; and just make sure that you dont but it from the home depot; or look extra carefully that there isnt wax in there.

good luck

[kpcrash]

Clear Shellac + if you're going to home depot, Rust-o-leum Painter's Touch Clear Gloss. It's a very stable acrylic lacquer that sets in 24 hours, cures in 72 (but I always wait a week). Pretty darn good stuff for rattlecan.

[ToddW]

Just did this recently. Shellac as a base is fine, but the sharpie will write on anything so I don't think it makes much difference. I'd just scuff sand the current coat where you plan to sign it.

It's the wet coats you put over it that are the problem and anything will make the sharpie run except water. So you won't find a spray can clear coat you can simply spray on. Sorry.

I solved the problem by putting on 4 or 5 super light "dust" coats of spray shellac first. Pretty much dry spraying the first time. Shellac dries so fast that I could do all those coats in half an hour, and then I started putting on slightly heavier coats. Lightly sanded the shellac after I had a thin layer built up to protect the writing and put the lacquer over that.

Good luck.

Todd

[SwedishLuthier]

http://www.frets.com/FRETSPages/Luthier/Te...elebsigsig.html

There you go...

[ToddW]

Wow, that is a lot of work, but I don't think Jeff will have to do nearly that much.

I just noticed the guitar isn't yet signed, so he can scuff it up first. That's good.

Also, that guitar in the link was signed with a paint marker. I wouldn't try the cotton swab method on sharpie because the sharpie ink is so much thinner. Jeff's piece will also have a lot more letters.

Makes me think of two points.

one: Don't forget to scuff first Jeff.

and

two: Does it have to be sharpie, or can you get a paint marker? that might be more run resistant.

Either way, I'd still go with the shellac dusting coats. Hold the can far away from the guitar, lightly mist it, then go watch TV for 10 minutes or until the next commercial break. Much faster than a Q-tip.

[guitar101]

I've been assigned a project by default. Seems a kid in the church youth group promised to re-finish a guitar for the youth minister. I guided him through the process and he did pretty good. The finish is plain white and the kids in the youth group are supposed to sign the guitar with a Sharpie.

From a totally unrelated project I knew that the Sharpie and Poly don't mix - the poly makes the Sharpie run. So I had some spare lacquer on hand and tried that. The Sharpie ran. Yikes! ( BTW - I'm testing this on an inconspicuous spot on the guitar, the kids have not signed it yet.)

So I'm wondering what my options are for clear finishing this guitar given the two main methods I use will make the signatures run? I'm pretty sure a different type of marker will give me the same results.

Any advice on what pieces of this puzzle I can change or try? Or should I put the poly on then let them sign it?

As for use, the minister is going to mount it on the wall or something so it's not going to get a lot of play.

Try these markers.

http://www.staedtler.ca/Lumocolor_permanen...en_gb.Staedtler

I clear coated over my initials on a Strat I assembled using Minwax Poly. No problem. They are more permanent than Sharpies and I let it dry over night. Use a light coat of Poly first let it dry then spray as usual.

[anderekel]

Sharpie also makes a waterbased paint pen. I have a friend who's used them with auto clear on top of them and seems to work great, no running or smudging, I'd suggest giving them a try.

[westhemann]

The key is the light "dusting" of the finish before you go whole hog....there used to be a tutorial on this on the main site.

[DGW]

You CAN shoot poly over the Sharpie with no problem ... I've done it.

You just need to shoot dust coats first to help "lock in" the ink.

Same technique you'd use on waterslide decals.

[DGW]

The key is the light "dusting" of the finish before you go whole hog....there used to be a tutorial on this on the main site.

Sorry for the duplicate post.

[jlarremore]

And the answer is ....

I tested a few different methods using Water based poly, "normal" poly and shellac. All of them made the sharpie run. However, like you guys said a dust coat would probably work best and looks like the water based poly was the best bet for a Sharpie.

I was getting frustrated so I ended up going a different direction and decided to test out a paint pen. That was the magic combination.

I sprayed a paint stick from HD with a similar white paint. Then, I marked on the whole stick when dry with the paint pen. Then I sprayed the three sections with the three finishes listed above. All worked fine, however, the best was the water based. The Shellac and the "normal" poly gave a slight off-white tint to the white paint. The water poly didn't.

I'll probably let the kids sign it in a couple of weeks then dust coat once with the water poly. Wait and then Poly again to get a quick shine.

Any objections?

[sprack]

This being my first post to this board you can take what I say with a grain of salt. I just watched some of the Dan Erlewine videos and he mentioned using a clear epoxy over a signature. Buddy Guy if I remember correctly. If I'm wrong feel free to chastise ruthlessly.

[guitar101]

And the answer is ....

I tested a few different methods using Water based poly, "normal" poly and shellac. All of them made the sharpie run. However, like you guys said a dust coat would probably work best and looks like the water based poly was the best bet for a Sharpie.

I was getting frustrated so I ended up going a different direction and decided to test out a paint pen. That was the magic combination.

I sprayed a paint stick from HD with a similar white paint. Then, I marked on the whole stick when dry with the paint pen. Then I sprayed the three sections with the three finishes listed above. All worked fine, however, the best was the water based. The Shellac and the "normal" poly gave a slight off-white tint to the white paint. The water poly didn't.

I'll probably let the kids sign it in a couple of weeks then dust coat once with the water poly. Wait and then Poly again to get a quick shine.

Any objections?

Try the Staedtler pen. I'ts not that difficult and you letting the Sharpie script dry overnight??