DGW

For gouges and minor dings, Bondo works just fine. I wouldn't suggest using it to fill cavities or anything. If you have major fills and/or repairs, I would recommend Marine Epoxy. It's an adhesive as well as a filler. It can be sanded, filed, drilled, etc ... and it won't shrink.

Good body prep is going to determine the final results of your paintjob. If you found a body shop willing to paint your guitar, consider yourself lucky but don't assume they will do any of the prep work. You have to do this yourself. Having said that ... a body shop isn't likely to seal the body so leaving the original finish may not be a bad idea. Hard to say waht grit you should start with without at least seeing pics, but I would work your way up to around 400 just to leave some "tooth" for the paint to stick. Using a finer grit is likely to cause the paint to chip and flake. Dents on unfinished wood can sometimes be steamed out, but considering the fact that you're leaving the existing finish, I would maybe use epoxy or even Bondo. Wood filler should be applied to wood, not a finish. Good luck.

More suitable for lawn furniture IMO.

Uh .... paint?

Solvent pop ... I know this problem all too well. It's usually caused by spraying too heavy, not waiting the proper flash times in between coats, or using the wrong temp reducer. In my case, a 1.4 nozzle was the culprit. I switched to a 1.0 and haven't had a problem since.

Here are some pics ... And here's a refin I did using the buffer. Sure beats the hell outta doing it by hand.

I've got the StewMac piece that goes in your drill press ... The difference between this and the one you made is that the StewMac piece pivots. I personally find this to be a big advantage.

I'm guessing a heat gun. Just a guess though.

I'll try to get some pics up tonight J~. I used to do it all by hand too ... what I PITA! jmrentis, Good tip on the padded flooring! I've never lost grip of a body yet (knock on wood), but ya never know.

I have the StewMac buffing arbor ... It's been awhile since I set it all up, but I believe I used the largest of the three pulleys on the axle and a 2" pulley at the motor. That would mean it runs fairly fast - about 2x the speed of the motor if I'm thinking about this right. Anyone deal with http://www.caswellplating.com ? I'm thinking about getting the buffs there, reasonable price and they seem to know what they are talking about. Thanks again. -John Ah, you're right ... I'm sorry. I used the smallest pulley on the axle, and 1/3hp motor, 1725rpm, and a 2" motor pulley. I use a "universal" floor stand and built a platform to mount the arbor and the motor assembly. I also used an adjustable "power twist" V-belt. Those things are great! I can snap a few pics if you like.

I have the StewMac buffing arbor ... It's been awhile since I set it all up, but I believe I used the largest of the three pulleys on the axle and a 2" pulley at the motor.

You never want to work the guitars over the buffer. Work from the lower end to help avoid the wheel from throwing your body (or whatever) to the other side of the room. I mount my buffer so the wheel is slightly above waist high. For me, this height allows me to have the best control and is most comfortable.

Solvent pop.

Kleen Strip makes chemical stripper for various types of finishes (paint, urethane, epoxy, etc..). Read the lable and make sure you bought the right stuff for whatever type of finish your working with.

Got pics?

The Les Paul bolt-on replicas typically use a neckplate with 4-screws. However, you could use ferruls if you like and create a 5 or 6 bolt pattern. Ferruls work great for contoured heels where you can't use a standard plate.

Jim, Your suggestion with using a 1.0 nozzel worked like a champ! I immediately noticed better flow and the smaller nozzel allowed me alot more control. I first shot a couple dust coats, then I did about 6 more light coats in 15 minute intervals. The finish has a little orange peel, but I can knock that off with a little wet sanding before buffing it out. Before, the solvent pop wasn't noticable until I would wetsand. They weren't bubbles trapped in the clear. They were tiny crator that had surfaced. Then when I would wetsand, the residue would get trapped in these crators causing tiny white dots. I eventually learned how to spot these tiny crators before wetsanding. I can tell this time around (before wetsanding) ... no tiny crators, no solvent pop ... SUCCESS! Thank you so much for sharing your experience and knowledge.

Just read through this thread so coming into this late in the day, but I think DGW maybe has your solution here. I suffered the same problems that you're having now when I first started shooting lacquers and I completely understand your frustration. Like yourself I went through EVERYTHING to try and get rid of the problem and was actually becoming completely paranoid about shooting lacquer coats at all. Not going to go over everything that's already been said here, but I always use a 1mm nozzle for shooting laqcuers on guitars, at 50psi pressure from the (second) moisture trap in my booth and adjusted further on the gun itself as I spray. I shoot one very, very, light dust coat of lacquer to mist the surface of the guitar, leave it for two or three minutes, then shoot a slightly heavier, but still very light coat over the guitar again. This is then left for roughly ten minutes and then shoot another slightly heavier coat (I have shot up to five light lacquer coats with a ten to twenty minute stand between each coat this way with great results). With the Octoral lacquers I use I've never had a problem, in fact I've never had a problem with various brands of lacquer I used over the years using this method. I don't use any solvent to thin the lacquer, just shoot it as it's mixed and it works perfectly. Just ensure you never have your lacquer 'swimming' on the surface and use the minimal pressure at the gun you can to get the necessary atomisation (too much pressure is not good). I tried umpteen different methods of applying lacquer prior to this one, with different mixes of solvents at different pressures, different temperatures and different nozzle sizes, but this is the one that worked for me. Hope this is some use to you. Glad you chimed in Foggy. I've been pretty busy lately and haven't had a chance to try anything out, but I wanted to tomorrow. I have a decent Devilbiss touchup gun with a 1.0 nozzel ... is this cool to use? Should I reduce the psi at my compressor from 80 to 50? And try to reduce the psi at my gun as well (currently 20psi)? And what type of fan spread do you look for and how far away to you hold the gun from the body? (bare in mind I'll be using a smaller touchup gun) I've gpt a body ready for clear but I'm really, really paranoid about shooting the clear. I've ruined so many really nice paintjobs and wasted so much time ... I really hope this works.

Thanks guys. The regulator and "cheater valve" look very similar, but I think I have the cheater valve. Sounds like maybe buying a proper regulator and finding a smaller nozzel may be worth trying. Thanks!

I'm running 80psi at the compressor and adjust down to 20psi at the gun, so that's good to hear. I'm glad you mentioned the regulator because one thing I've noticed is that the clear tends to "spit" when I try to shoot light coats. I've tried all sorts of adjustments at the gun (Devilbiss w/ 1.4 nozzel)) and nothing works ... I either get dry dust (too much air) or it "spits". This is why I asked the question about psi and is also the reason I asked about thinning out the clear by adding more reducer. But now that you mention the regulator, I'm thinking maybe I should try this. I'm pretty sure what I'm using now is just a cheater valve. Any suggestions as to what type/brand regulator I should be looking at? Do you think this will help?

I've used Chroma Clear and yes ... I get solvent pop. I follow instruction sheets to a T, so there's no chance of not allowing coats to flash long enough. I don't mean to sound unappreciative, but I've heard all of this before and have already tried everything mentioned here in this thread ... THAT"S what makes this so frustrating. Just curious ... what psi's are you guys running at the compressor vs. the gun?

Understood ... how much additional reducer to you suggest? And if I'm shooting light coats, should I also reduce the flash time? Or does it even matter? Thanks.

Yes but it's slower to flach so the solvent has more time to escape. Also there are different temperature reducers in some systems that slow or accelerate flashing. Yeah, I'm well aware of the temperature rating on reducers ... I use the slowest possible reducer. So you're saying to increase the amount of reducer and this will slow the curing process and allow it to flow nicer? How much more do you suggest? 4:2 ratio maybe? Thanks for the help.

By "climate controlled" I mean temperature, but I also run a dehumidifier and pay special attention to outside conditions as well. What's the best way to thin out the clearcoat? I've always followed the manufactures instructions ... 4:1 ratio I believe? If I add more reducer, wouldn't I just be adding more solvent?

syxxstring - I always make sure all the products I use are compatable. erikbojerik - Really tiny crators ... so tiny that they only show up after I wetsand. I have discussed this with my local paint distributor and they have pretty much told me the same thing. So like I said ... I've tried everything. That's why I'm now looking into shooting nitro. I've tried different airflow adjustments, different techniques, different products, ... EVERYTHNG I could possibly think of. I was sorta hoping you guys would tell me it was a contamenent and that I needed a particular trap or filter, but ... I dunno. Sealer, primer, basecoats always go on smooth with absolutely no problems, but clearcoat is a bitch! It's to the point now that I've stopped painting altogether. I was just hoping you guys may be able to give me some insight. As you can probably tell from everything I've already tried, this has been going on for some time now and it really sucks.