subject17

to let you know i held the nozzle down fully holding the can 12 inches from the body surface doing 3 light coats every 20 minutes with a few breaks in between. =... i spent all day on it and followed the instructions on the can.

BTW it IS mahogany.

its minwax rattle can polyurethane. maybe i was too light on it.

i'll be getting 4 more cans to make sure its done right the next round. lol.

it was sanding sealed too.

actually i used 4 cans and about 15-20 coats a can.

guess i need to just keep putting more on lol...

well 68 coats of rattle can poly later and i bearly have any build.

very light coats mind you. but still 68 coats.

looks like i need another 4 cans.

any suggestions?

i forgot to mention also that my neck and headstock are dyed as well.

how much poly is typically required to do a neck?

common sense tells me that i would want it as thin as i can get it on a neck

thanks!

-RS.

Sanding sealers are made to build base coats. They are softer versions of the top coat, not just something to seal in stain etc. Use sanding sealer,sanding really well between coats untill you have a finish as smooth as you want your final finish, then apply your top coat, be it polyurethane or lacquer. Let the sanding sealer do the heavy lifting.

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thanks, i will keep that in mind. im just trying to use it for that purpose you stated.

and take some of the filling responsibility away from the poly ( not all of it )

im just taking my time with this and hopefully... (god willing)

everything will turn out OK on this first time out.

i need to run a poll on the color of hardware i should use for a blue burst though....

not too sure... hmm.....

thanks

i see,

well i am headed back to the de-pot tommorow morning to get some supplies.

i will for sure be heading there to get some things.

i know about the longer drying time.

i have alot of things to learn... and i wish i had the experience needed to shoot the 2 pack poly. (and the equipment for that matter) this is a HUGE undertaking for me. and i know its kind of like drak said to me. the next one is always better.

im doing the best i can to get a good finish this time around and the next time. i can learn from what did not go so right and make sure i do it properly that time around.

as far as finishing liquids go,

what makes poly or nitro better than the other? because as far as i can see.

it looks like they both have their drawbacks.

checking and yellowing versus. unforgiving repairs and longer dry time.

i have decided on poly this time in part because i've seen a beautiful red tele that was minwaxed... LOL... and godinSG made a guitar that was finished in it as well and they both came out great looking.

i've also seen some awesome guitars sprayed with deft... and i will be trying nitro next time around. nitro is a little harder for me to get ahold of though. but i wanted to try both and see what rattlecan i like better.

to cope with the dust and bugs issue... the area i am spraying in, when done. should be as dust free as a human can get it with standard cleaning utensils, and im in arizona. so bugs arent as huge of an issue... though i will setup some traps now that you've said something about it. the drying area is a locked closed shed that gets pretty warm but not HOT HOT.... i think its a pretty good area for all of this.

any other advice is appriciated.

and i didnt want a war in this thread. im just trying to soak up whatever information/experiences/mistakes/victories that you all have had with this stuff and try to apply it to what im doing.

i feel that some day i will try waterbased and epoxy finishes too but thats another time another story and another set of equipment for sure

thanks again.

-RS

I just wanted to say that i ordered some very nice shell from Depaule Supply

http://www.luthiersupply.com/productspage.html

This may be common knowledge among you guys.

But andy is an awesome guy and even took my order on a saturday. (forgot it was saturday lol...

im not being payed or compensated in anyway for this.

but if your needing inlay material and you want something beautiful....

you should at least have a look this place rocks....

and the prices are good too... only like 13.00 for me to get everything i needed for my products.

have at it guys.

-RS

i see, i have sanding sealer that is made to go with this particular brand of poly though.

well i suppose 1 coat wont hurt it. i need some minor things leveled anyway.

this is a refin and not a build.... (that comes next )

if you think i should just start blasting it. i will assemble my makeshift spray booth.

(shed converted into a spray booth with the front door as the opening.

(that took days to get ready lol)

thanks

Cheers.... hmm.... no beer icon... :|

southpa,

what do you think of using sanding sealer to kind of pack the pores a bit to reduce the possible shrinkback?

its more of a protective layer other than an actual pore filler.

might help preserve it.

what do you think?

alright so just to see if i understand this correctly.

3 coats to do the guitar?

or 3 coats every 20 minutes until the desired build is reached.

im a total idiot but such subtlties are the root at how these things work

thanks

RS

EDIT: sorry didnt mean to quote the whole post.

hey godin,

i've done some wipe on dye bursting and to be honest. the closest i've seen to a white dye is a silver grey available at http://www.wdlockwood.com/main.html

you might be able to delute it enough and brighten it up. (not sure on this one)

its in the alchohol soluable section i think.

you might be better off trying the spray and having a big fade so that it gives a transparent effect. (like VERY small particles) so that it will still show blue below that. (if thats what your looking for)

i think that would look great.

just some ideas since you were looking.

-RS

cheers.

helps. if i can spell... lol

im sorry i read it again. i didnt really understand it too much the first time.

as long as the finish looks good and can stand some minor abuse over the years.

i DO take good care of my instruments.

i will try it and if i dont like it so much. next time i'll use nitro.

just to know. with the 1 part poly. do i have to spray all my coats together (20-30 min apart) to have it work like i've read of can i do like 1-2 coats a day (at the beginning anyway) and be ok?

i just want to make sure that i dont screw it up

thanks

-RS

cheers

now wes when you say soft, do you mean like never hardens right soft or soft as in will take damage faster?

i dont want to use it if it will not cure properly.

thanks

-RS

to be honest. i've never used rattlecan poly before and i was seeing if it was a viable alternative to nitro because i think guitars that are checked look like crap.

lol (just my 2 cents) not only that the whole ambering issue with nitro is a concern to me. (im not an pond scum green fan at all)(blue guitar) lol i just dont know what is going to dry hard and still work well for a clear coat. i figure worst case scenario.

i start over with nitro....

but this whole thing is pretty new to me still...

any advice on nitro that i might not know would be very good so i can apply it to what i know

thanks

-RS

put a little epoxy in the hole put the dot in the put a little on top of the dot and make sure its seated ok. Then you sand them flat when they are dry.

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how could you explain why epoxy is needed on top of the dots? im a little confused.

im sure it makes sense some how. but i just dont get it.

thanks gemleggat.

-RS

thanks for letting me know that.

i have one can now. i'll pick up 2 more tomorrow. i also have a think of minwax sanding sealer. so that might help a little too.

thanks alot.

-RS

thanks! time for some super ing

hey godin i have 2 questions for you.

1) how many cans did that guitar take?

and 2) is there anything special i need to know about spraying it?

ie., time between coats, how long to wait or not to wait, aprox drying times?

anything like that would be most appriciated.

great guitar btw. gorgeous...

thanks again

-RS

i completely understand. i know the body has one defect that i have to live with though (brother abused it when i lent it to him) but its my baby still. so i figured a good recoating and recoloring from that craptacular matte pewter finish would be lovely.

this is one guitar thats not going anywhere ever. and until it either breaks. (i'll repair in that case) or spontaniously combusts, lol (knocks on wood... err. the guitar rather.) its here to stay. i look foward to actually doing right this time around.

thanks for all the help. and i have started a rattlecan poly topic already on this to see what i can learn.

thanks everyone.

-RS

simply amazing.

well i have taken your advice and stripped it back as far as i can get it without altering the body. im going to be much more careful this time.

and as far as the WOD goes.... that sounds like fun actually. (too bad im a little destructive rofl)

i will be trying some things this time around a bit differently.

what do you think about polyurethane clear coating?

your right though. i have the patience to think this through to the end.

though i may have been a bit overzealous to see the finished product,

that damn blue can be so enticing....

thanks again.

-RS

hey everyone, (god i say that alot)

Just wanting to know if the spray polyurethane available from minwax is suitable for guitar work, ( i hear it cures VERY hard ) and i was wanting to know if there is anything i should watchout for when trying to use it. i also read it does not shrink back as much.

Due to the recent issues i have had with my refinishing job. i was thinking that a harder curing substance might be nessasary.

i was also thinking about clear filling the grain ( post stain ) <--- theres the screwup. using minwax sand and sealer.

i've tried doing a search. i even saw a beautiful burst tele that had minwax spray used. and i was wondering how that finish turned out in the long run.

could you professionals out there please advise?

this is the product By the way this is the link http://www.minwax.com/products/protective/fast-poly.cfm

its in an aerosol form though in a bluish black can labeled the same and says gloss

thanks again,

RS

the issue i had doc is that i screwed up and dyed before a grain fill. im now at the point where im trying to figure out how to finish with out the need for a complete sandback.

i am thinking of trying sanding sealer and rattlecan poly (on a budget what can i say) after i get a little better at this and not screw up as much (though i must say it looks great, i never thought i could pull of a wipe on burst!) then i will buy spray gear.

i wanted to do nitro. but everyone seems to think the poly is more durable and wont check later on.

thank you for your input i appriciate all that i can get.

the CA/epoxy method was just to grain fill because i have dyed and sanded back so the grain is already popping out. i just need to fill it clear so it doesnt have any issues later.

any comments/suggestions/ideas/flames will be most appriciated and i most likely at this point deserve it. lol

thank you

-RS

just a question drak, i've seen some of your awesome transparent finishes,

how did you manage that without filling afterward? it just doesnt seem like tinting the pore filler would make it that vibrant or look very good at all for that matter.

just wanting to know, your work is one of the reasons i want to learn this so bad.

its just awesome.

thanks again,

Robert S.

god i hate being a noob.

i see. i was looking for more like a clear pore filler like CA glue or epoxy though. would that really mess it up? or is there a chance at not running it though. i dont mind a bit of extra wieght in the body...

Well you know what they say... you dont learn without screwing up.

lol... well i'll try a thicker layer of epoxy or ca glue and see what happens.

worst case. i have a gripload of dye leftover. so im not worried about that too much.

i love this burst though. and i did it wiping it on so im kinda shocked it turned out so well.

i'll see if its able to be filled properly with clear.

thanks,

Robert.

wow thanks guys, i never expected so many replies. this place rocks,

now i know that as long as im careful this will come out beautiful.

it may only be an ax7221. but its going to be an entirely different beast when im done with it. my beast.

just a question about if i should use the stew mac glues?

thanks again guys.

-RS