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Re: Mayday: Lacquer Repair Question

Posted: Mon Oct 29, 2018 6:52 pm
by Kevin Sjostrand
Karl if it is not too late, from what you are explaining, you will have to sand or scrape to the bottom of your existing pores to get rid of the white, which is most likely set in there from the over coat. They are not very deep so you will not alter the dimensions by any noticeable amount. But I don't think you will rid yourself of the white unless you do this.

Did I understand this correctly?

Kevin

Re: Mayday: Lacquer Repair Question

Posted: Tue Oct 30, 2018 8:40 am
by Kbore
Kevin Sjostrand wrote:Did I understand this correctly?
Yes perfectly, thanks for your reply. I've decided the risk/ reward and cost/ benefit is not worth the risk of introducing other problems greater than the one I have, like gain tear out at the heal which was a big issue. Interesting, the white feature is only visible when holding the neck in one orientation, with light coming from directly above. I figured I could proceed with lacquer and if it was prominent enough, I could still recover. It now undetectable unless you sight down the neck while pointing the headstock toward an overhead light. Wish I knew the root cause.

Re: Mayday: Lacquer Repair Question

Posted: Tue Oct 30, 2018 8:50 am
by ruby@magpage.com
Just a thought. Could it be that the grain is not quite filled so there are tiny depressions that reflect light differently?

Ed

Re: Mayday: Lacquer Repair Question

Posted: Wed Oct 31, 2018 8:33 am
by Kbore
That's interesting, I have never been able to get the grain completely smooth with grain filler, not even on my test panels.

Re: Grain Turned White After Aqua Coat Question

Posted: Sun Nov 25, 2018 12:34 pm
by Kbore
Update: One month later (not what one might expect):

Ok, I stripped the neck ( Nitro finish) with Zip Strip Metheline Chloride big daddy stripper. That was an interesting experience. Neck was slick as a whistle, and grain was still white as a driven snow. Here is what finally removed 95% of lt:

Spray the now bare wood surface with water, wipe it in with cloth so it's not dripping off.
Once the water starts to dry, do it again.
Cut a fresh edge on a piece of green scotch brite, spray it with water.
Scrub in the direction of the grain run out, with the wirey EDGE of scotch brite

Slowly, after about five minutes of keeping it wet, except for the smallest ROUND grains, the white stuff softened and was swept out by the broom like edge of scotch brite (natural hair acid brush would do it).

Since water was the solvent that softened and removed it, I believe it was caused in part by the AquaSeal water based sealer. The rosewood body was done with the same material/ technique, but a day or two apart from the neck. I don't know the root cause but boy I wish I did- it created an inordinate amount of work and effort to remove. And will require starting over with the finishing process. It was useful good experience, of which I could have done without. I'll be switching to Wunderwood to fill the grain this time.

Also, I edited the title of the thread. Thanks for all the replies. Hope it goes better this time around.

Re: Grain Turned White After Aqua Coat Question

Posted: Tue Nov 27, 2018 9:23 pm
by Diane Kauffmds
I have been there and done that!

Aquacoat will leave a white residue in the pores if you sand before the stuff is 100% hard and dry. The instructions say 45 minutes. Ha! It's more like 24 hours. Once you get that white crap, it's awful to get rid of. Stripping and sanding past it, is about the only cure.

I've decided to use System 3 instead of Aquacoat. Aquacoat does a nice job, but it's hard to tell when its truly ready to sand, leading to the white spot problem.

Re: Grain Turned White After Aqua Coat Question

Posted: Thu Dec 06, 2018 6:16 pm
by Kbore
DK,
Just read your reply, don't know how I missed it.
Thanks for the feedback on the root cause of the white grain.

I dug out a jar of Wunderfil water based grain filler I bought from Rockler at least 10 years ago. I store that kind of material upside down so the solvent (in this case water) doesn't evaporate out. I tried it on a test panel, and it was good. Very amazing.

I dyed it black (took LOTS of black StewMac Colortone dye) and tried THAT combination on the test panel, and it was good.

After a nice coat of vinyl sealer, I grain filled the mahogany neck (now with deep, hogged out pores from stripping cleaning). THe thinned and dyed Wunderfil grain filler worked marvelously. Used 2 applications. After the 2nd fill was applied, I saran wrapped my dyed grain filler cup so it might be good the next day.

Next morning, the filler was still usable, so I did a spot fill of a small but nasty little grain tear out and two DEEP long grains, and they filled famously. Sanded the whole affair lightly and carefully with 320 fre-cut after the neck dried overnight (I had to dye the neck, the stripper bleached it out a little) . The grain filled neck now looks like I envisioned it looking, better than even before the Aquacoat turned white.

I love the way the Wunderfil filled and sanded. It dried really fast (1 1/2 min) so I had to apply to small areas at a time. Wunderfil's ability to fill deeper pores and tearouts is superior to the other grain fillers I tested this summer. I will continue to use Wunderfil.

The Aquacoat was beautifully transparent but did a poor job, in my estimation, of filling the grain. I spot filled with the original Aquacoat without satisfaction, or subsequent improvement in the fill. And it was a horrendous experience when it turned white, deep in the bottom of the grain. Lastly, the Wunderfil sealed the grain beyond 90% and the neck is more or less smooth like glass.

Just wanted to share with the forum the thrills of victory, as well as the agonies of defeat.

Re: Grain Turned White After Aqua Coat Question

Posted: Fri Dec 07, 2018 7:45 am
by tippie53
we learn more from failures than success
sharing the info is what helps others
thanks