Am I correct in thinking.....

[genbloke]

I've had a look through the Inlays and Finishing section of this forum and just wanna confirm that it's ok to use clear automotive cellulose spray paint to lacquer a guitar. Are there any downsides to using this stuff as apose to 'proper' lacquer designed specifically.for use on instruments?

Am I correct in thinking that Sanding Sealant- You apply it to wood before you paint or lacquer it, this helps to stop the grain texture showing through and doesn't affect the appearence of the wood if you decide to go for a transparent finsh to the guitar

I'm totally new to the world of wood finishing, I just want to got things clearer in my head.

Thanks

Genbloke

[Ki swordsman]

the sanding sealer can be used to flatten the surface if the guitar is grainy

but it's main purpose is to seal the guitar, if moisture from anywhere be it paint or lacquer or anything gets into the wood it could crack

[decalshopmike]

Auto cellulose is fine - imho there is no such thing as 'special instrument lacquer' - it just seems to be a reason for the companies to sell it for more than auto stuff by putting a picture of a guitar on the packaging

When manufacturers started lacquering guitars originally, they used what was already available ( in the same way Fender used dupont paints ) - over the years I've found nearly everything that claims to be specifically for use on guitars is just repackaged standard stuff sold at a premium - you can generally find exactly the same product under its generic name much cheaper.

Mike

[genbloke]

Great, I can get auto celly quite cheaply around here.

So do I need to use sanding sealer then? And is it transparent then? Sorry if I'm being a bit thick

Genbloke

[Librero]

yes, sanding sealer is transparent. sealer will also prevent the wood from absorbing the finish. i'm still surprised how much lacquer my maple headstock absorbed on a spot where i sanded through the sealer.

[genbloke]

Ok, Thanks guys.

Things are starting to make sense now

My timber should be arriving in the next few days, Wahoo! (I won't be at the finishing/lacquering stage for quite sometime now, but I least I Have a clue on where to start when I get there )

Genbloke

[decalshopmike]

Check on some scrap first that the sanding sealer wont react with the lacquer - some of them do and can make a right mess - also make sure once you've applied it that you sand it as flat as possible with no dips in the grain as this will save a lot of time with the lacquering.

[genbloke]

decalshopmike- yeah, compatibility did cross my mind. I once sprayed a car bonnet with cellulose (which had previously have been sprayed with acrylic). The resulting crackling effect wasn't very pleasent