GuitarMaestro

Makes sense - good to know that this is not an option with the wipe-on.

Hi Scott! Good tip concerning the witness lines - makes sense. So far I only did nitro finishes where this is not a problem,

Durability sounds good then! Concerning spraying poly i found several tutorials stating the following: If you want to apply several coats and you want them to bond chemically and not mechanically, the timespan between coats has to be short (10-15 minutes for the Spraymax 2K for example). Most of them spray several coats in short succession and then they wait, sand and then apply several coats again, etc. Might be possible with wipe-on as well?

Thanks for your answers. Concerning spraying poly - it seems it can be done in a similar way than nitro: Jeremy sprays about 10+ coats and sands in between. I don't know if the individual layers melt together (probably not) but Jeremy at least does not warn about sanding/buffing through the top coat...

Really well written and great tutorial Andy! Thanks alot for taking the time! You write about the wipe-on poly: It will never look quite the same as a well applied and properly buffed spray finish It isn't as tough as a commercial poly finish - but it is tough! How would you say it compares to a SprayCan 2K poly finish? When you say it will never look quite the same than a sprayed finish - what are the main differences?

Thanks for your answer Scott. I knew that tutorial already - it's great btw. But he writes about the wipe-on poly: It will never look quite the same as a well applied and properly buffed spray finish It isn't as tough as a commercial poly finish - but it is tough! So my question was aimed at finding the best way to get a poly finish without a spray gun / compressor. I will probably get a better finish with the SprayMax 2K spray cans than with the wipe-on I think?

Hi there, What's currently the best option to get a high gloss poly clear coat without the use of a compressor / spray gun? Probably still the SprayMax 2K clear? Or are there better options in a spray can? What about these wipe-on poly finishes? Can they really come close to a proffessional finish? Many thanks in advance!!

Am I right in my assumption that the figure of curly maple looks better/more intense when flatsawn? I am talking about a neck blank here. I have to buy some blanks without seeing them before and I have the choice between flatsawn and quatersawn. I know that quatersawn blanks are more stable for neck use, but I am only interested in the figure here as I use CF rods and bubinga stripes anyway....

Thanks for the answers!

Thanks for your answers. What I get from your answers: It seems you have to be trained as a luthier or at least have more expirience than what I have from building a couple of guitars a year to correctly "read the wood". I'll try to get a sugar maple blank from a seller that I can trust and compare it to a piece of birdseye to make sure it is what I bought. If I build the neck out of curly sugar maple, laminated with bubinga stripes I guess most pieces will be suiltable. If not what do I have to look for?

I was absent from building guitars for some years now and most people I used to buy maple tops from are gone out of business or have ridiculous prices. On the bay for example the only seller left with quality stuff is buzzsaw and they are very expensive. Any recommendations where you can good prices/quality for quilted maple tops at the moment? It has to be online shops as I am in Germany and figured maple is not a very common wood in this country.... Thanks in advance for any hints!

How suited is flame/curly maple for necks? Some years ago I built a neck out of a nice quatersawn curly maple piece laminated with two 10mm stripes of Bubinga. To this day it is not really a stable neck. If the weather/humidty changes I have to readjust the bow of the neck alot....especially between winter/summer. I never found out if the curly piece was bigleaf or rock maple(the seller didn't know), so it could very well be soft maple. I am thinking about building another neck out of curly maple and bubinga stripes. My question: Is curly ROCK maple suited for building necks? Or do I have to expect the same problems again? And how can I determine if a certain piece is bigleaf or rock maple myself without having to trust the seller's claims.... P.s.: I guess there is a reason that most guitar companies only offer birdseye or plain maple necks? I never saw a really curly/flamed maple neck on a production guitar.

Thanks again for the answers! I already read about that in another thread and I think that's what I will try next time. Not a single kerf but a series of parallel kerfs to the underside of the top at the angle where the arm scarf will be bent. I really wonder why this is not recommended as "the" way to do it. This way you dont have to use much force/heat/water to bend the top and the wood is free of unwanted tensions afterwards. @fryovanni: Thanks for that detalied post. Made me think about some things differently. Very informative!

Thanks for the advice. @fryovanni: Good tip, but I wouldn't have any other use for the blanket. Sp do you think it will be impossible to remove the top with a simple electric iron? @WezV: So is "cooking" part of the top for 20 minutes a bad idea in general? It usually worked perfectly for me. Should I have put the whole top in hot water and not only part of it, so that it expands and shrinks the same everywhere? Or is it generally better to use an electric iron with steam function and not to put in water at all? @Guitar WIll: Good idea. I already thought about trying to hide the cracks that way and if I dont succeed in removing the other half of the top without destroying it I will give it a try....

I have never tried to use quilted bubinga for a neck. I laminate most of my necks from figured maple and unfigured bubinga and from that I know that bubinga is a DAMN hard and rigid wood. So I could imagine it is stable enough even with the quilt figure. I myself would take the risk and try it, but I would use CF rods. Another problem might be the weight though. I would definately keep Mattia's advice in mind: Look closely how it behaves. I would plane it to proper dimensions and then let it sit for about a week and check if it has any tenedies to move/warp.

I currently build a guitar with a bookmatched 6mm quilted maple top. I glued the first half on and then started to bend the second one over the forearm contour. Usually I throw the area of the top that goes over the contour in hot/boiling water for 20 minutes and then clamp it in place and wait a week until it dries. Afterwards I glue it on. Unfortunately the top developed two several cm long cracks during drying. This never happened to me before. You cannot imagine how angry I am. The top cost 150$ and was absolutely unique and awesome. Anyway my question: How can I remove the half that's already glued on? I used LMII's instrument maker's glue which is not water-soluble but they claim it softens with heat. Would you try to get the top away with heat or simply plane it away? I would preffer to get it off without destroying it, as it could maybe be reused for a guitar with another shape.... Thanks in advance, Marcel P.s.: I never had that problem before. Any ideas why it might have happened?

Thanks for your answers. It's always good to hear from several people that this works. @Mike: I have a real spray gun in my shop here. I'll buy a nitro spray can though, because I dont want to go through cleaning the gun after every coat (I guess I will have to do 8+) and I dont see an advantage in using the gun for finishing a small area like the peghead front. @Melvyn: I already thought about doing it the old Fender way, but it looks not good to me and the decal was way to expensive to not protect it with a finish..... Are you THE Melvyn that wrote "Make Your Own Electric Guitar"? If so I have bought that book some years ago and is EXCELLENT.

Ok....I think thats no big enough advantage for me to clean the gun 10 times (after each coat), etc.

Excellent post Setch. Your argumentation is spot on. Thinking about it I will definately recoat the whole headstock now. I wanted to avoid that because I never painted the guitars I built myself so far and have no expirience in that field. But I guess finishing a headstock with nitro should not be that difficult. Is there any disadvantage in using nitro from spray cans for that? I have access to compressor + spray gun, but I would rather go for the simplicity of a spray can....

Luckily they sold me small sample decal. If I decide for the brushing method I will let you guys know how it turned out. I dont want to refinish the whole headstock just for the decal if I dont have to. Maybe someone else tried it already? AlexVDL?

Thanks for the answer! Good to hear that I dont have to expect trouble with mixing nitro finishes. I would have tried it on an invisible area of the neck anyway, but it's still good to know what to expect. The question is if it is possible to put a dust/mist coat on the decal with a brush. With a spray you can do that easily, but with a brush you can only do a thin coat but it will always be a coat that covers the whole surface and thats maybe too much already?

Thanks alot. Those 2 posts really helped me ALOT. What's the reason that you always spray over the whole peghead? I guess it's because a fine mist of finish cannot be applied to the decal with a brush? Otherwise I would preffer to just put some coats of nitro over the decal with a brush. If this is done right it should look like it was under the original finish, because the finish over the decal looks a little different anway, even if it is one coat I think. Another thing I wonder: Is there any risk in simply putting new nitro coats over the existing nitro finish? The thing is I dont know what kind/brand/etc. of nitro they used to finish the neck and I fear it might come to an ugly reaction if the nitro I put over it is somehow not compatible with the one they used. Or is nitro=nitro? Did you ever put nitro coats over existing finishes? P.s.: Clou is a good tip. I already knew they make nitro, but did not consider them because in Germany Clou does not have a real reputation when it comes to this kind of stuff. Most stores only carry their dirt cheap beginner level stuff....

Thanks for your answer. I guess you applied some more decals so far, so I maybe you know if there really are decals that do not work with nitro-finishes. Mine is from axesrus and later discovered that they recommend to only put a water based laquer over it. Should I take that serious? I bet it works with nitro as well and they want to stay clear of people that complain because they ruined their decal with the wrong laquer. They included a test piece, so I'll definately try it with that first. Seeing that you live in Europe as well....do you know if there is a company here that sells nitro in spray cans?

Okay I understand what you wanted to say now and it makes sense to protect the endgrain. For a fretboard I think it's unlikely it will bring any advantage in practice though. I guess a fingerboard that is prone to warping, etc. will do so with and without, but who knows. I wont tell you why my way is better because I do it exactly your way, just not for protection against moisture.....! I'll better not interrupt this thread anymore....

Wes....i dont know what went on on these boards as I was away for about 1 year. I really am/was just interested in a constructive debate and to maybe learn something new. I completely agree with you that sealing the slots is improving look & feel of a guitar and always do it to the guitars I build. I just did and do not think that sealing or adding a binding prevents any damage to the frets (like rust) as 80% of the fret is still exposed to sweat and everything else anway. I never saw rust on frets....