Guitar Finishing

[mikejhathaway]

Hi Everyone,

Hope I have the fight forum for this post.

I started a guitar building project this year and was wondering if anyone out there has any experience of using Plasti-Kote products to finish off their guitars?. I have used a wood stain to get to the colour I am after and then several coats of Plasti-Kote clear gloss finish. Any pointers on how long this should be left to dry out before the final wet and dry rub down??

Thanks in advance.

Mike

[agent_zed]

Hi,

Plasti-Kote is the canned stuff isn't it? I've always found cans take longer to dry than when i spray cellulose from a gun, think cans are acrylic aren't they. I normally get impatient and end up damaging it with a can. so now i leave it a long time.

I tend to flat back between coats with 1200 grit wet and dry with a bit of soapy water before the next coat. The soap breaks the surface tension and stops me pulling up the paint as without it the paper sticks. Although this has always been automotive so i guess you have to be very careful not to get water into the wood if you are going to try that. More than happy to be told not to do it this way on guitars, but it works on cars.

If i was spraying i'd normally thin the last coat an extra bit so that it gave a smoother final surface. can't really do that with a can though.

It'll continue to dry for a long time and get harder over a couple of weeks so be careful with it for a while, don't treat it rough. I guess for me if it was a warm day in the UK i'd leave it a good couple of hours, in the sun, when i was happy with the top coat before trying to flat it.

I've always had a reasonable surface on my car so i tend to just t-cut and polish it but there are loads of other slightly more abrasive polishing compounds you can use.

be really careful on the edges as its easy to sand through the paint where you are putting more pressure on.

good luck hope this is useful