A question for brushers

[deadedith]

Hey you brushers - how do you manage to keep your finish from dripping on the sides or, if you are brushing the sides, keep it from dripping on the back or top?
DaveB

[johnnparchem]

I never completely eliminated drips when brushing but supposedly ...

For the top and back, when brushing start each stroke in a couple of inches from the edge, as you are getting to the other side your motion should be such that you are almost just lifting from the surface as you reach the end. Brush on the same path the opposite way again starting in an inch or two picking up the area you missed on the other side.

That way you never catch the edge with your brush.

[deadedith]

Thanks John - is there any kind of masking that helped at all?
DaveB

[kencierp]

When brushing I working with the surfaces getting the chemical as horizontal as possible I recently posted one of the more simple set-ups to accomplish this goal. The last touch up stroke for each side is to smooth the edges on all the adjacent sides -- I let the fresh coating set a few minutes before flipping to a new surface. Preventing every single drip would seem pretty tricky -- knowing my own lack of skill I plan to do some leveling of drips and runs, I do not sand however, and always use a scraper (razor blade) to smooth the surface. Note that you must wait until the coating is completely dry ---- peeling the soft finish off --- well lets say that you don't want young children around when that happens!!

[johnnparchem]

Dave, I did not mask, rather worked to minimize drips. I wish I had heard Ken's point about waiting for a drip to completely dry before experiencing it firsthand. Given that most of the finishes are solvents, you end up opening a hole through the underlying finish that the drip is on if you scrape it before it drys.

[Tony_in_NYC]

I think drips are a part of the process with any method of application.
I try to minimize them by starting my brush stroke an inch in from the edge and with a light touch go out to the edge before returning to where I started to finish the pass across the body. Seems to work for me. I use Deft Brushing lacquer and it skins over pretty quickly, so you cant be brushing it like the Glidden paint on your walls! It has to be applied and left alone. Additional brushing causes lines and a lousy looking surface to the finish, which will add to your sanding later on.

[johnnparchem]

"It has to be applied and left alone.." That has been the hardest thing for me. I see a problem and I want to fix it right then.

[Tony_in_NYC]

"It has to be applied and left alone.." That has been the hardest thing for me. I see a problem and I want to fix it right then.

Well knock it off!!
Seriously, I found it easier to just put on my 10-12 coats with no leveling between any of them, and then sand it all out at once. The sanding might take longer doing it this way, but when I did try to correct a little mistake while the lacquer was either still wet or between coats, it did more harm than good. Now, I have only finished two guitars, but my finish on the second is better than on the first.
Also, I found that after I was done with all of my coats, I went and added another couple of coats just to the edges, i.e. the bindings. I sanded through the edges on #1. I did not sand through anywhere on #2.
I am very, very happy with both guitars, especially the finish, but #1 has its little flaws, whereas #2 is nearly perfect.
Again, the wet sanding took longer, but I think it is worth it when you get a perfectly flat, mirror finish. Thats what we are all after, no?
You could always go with a satin or matte finish. Then there are fewer issues to worry about.

[johnnparchem]

Well knock it off!!

Easier said than done. On my last violin using a spirit varnish I built up amber, followed by amber with brown, followed by darker brown as I worked toward building a sunburst. Then I noticed a flaw and went to fix it with a brush that was too wet and ended up with paisley in the area as the varnish burned through and swirled all of the coats. I painstakenly fixed it over a couple of weeks but it never looked as good as before my fix, flaw and all. I smeared the sunburst on my Les Paul when trying to flick off a gnat that landed on the second of the final clear coats.

Seriously, I did learn to wait, and learned to repair cured drips and runs with a straight edge razor blade. With lacquer once you lay down the finish leave it alone until it dries. Leave the gnat that gets stuck on the finish alone until the finish dries ...