Finish schedules and guns

The Achilles' Heel of Luthiery
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tippie53
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Joined: Fri Mar 03, 2006 7:09 pm
Location: Hegins, Pa
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Finish schedules and guns

Post by tippie53 »

Many of us started with little info and learned as we went. I was lucky in that I was around wood work my whole life and learned prep and filling early. Martin's training when I was out there for my authorizing was intense and very useful.

To say prep is the most important of the steps goes without saying. If there is on mistake many beginner do is to sand to too fine a grit. Martin doesn't go past 220 to allow a bit of tooth for the finish to adhere to .
Gun set up is also important.

my schedule is pretty much standard
A stain
B seal
C fill
D seal
E finish
I do this often in 2 steps
the first is to use a bit thinner mix with a retarded to allow good flow and evening of the surface. It cuts down on the orange peel effect

Also if your gun is not set right and your drying product before it hits the surface you will have a rough time.
I use about 50 50 but the thinner and retarder are mixed together. I use about a 30 20 thinner to retarder for the first coat then refill the cup with a 30 thinner finish for the 2nd coat.
I will shoot the 1st coat within a few min of the last seal coat to get a good burn in
the 2nd finish coat will be applied about 30 min after the first then the rest of the coats about 45 min to an hour apart.
I will use about 2o thinner and a touch or retarder depending on the conditions. The faster it wants to dry the more retarder.
I will place a business card in the sound hole so I get an idea of coverage. I am shooting for about .016 thick in the green lacquer this usually shrinks back in a week or so. After 2 weeks to cure I would level sand
started with 600
then 800
1200
1500
2000
then buff.
If my finish seems too thin and I see any burn through I hit 3 coats and allow a cure and level sand again.

I can say that making a good sounding guitar is a lot easier than making a good looking one.

Filling was the harder of the finish skills to learn as it is all about prep. If you short cut the prep it will show in the end
this is for nitro lacquer.

All I can say is you have to practice. In most cases I have seen here in my shop from students it was they didn't take the final steps far enough. One was so scared to level sand that he left too much finish on , and once I showed him how to read the finish he learned that there are signs to watch for. Also learning to mic a finish is a big help. I always measure around the sound hole in the raw I know my base to the raw wood . Figure about .006 till your done at a min. .012 max
John Hall
Blues Creek Guitars Inc
Authorized CF Martin Repair Center
president of Association of Stringed Instrument Artisans
http://www.bluescreekguitars.com
Danl8
Posts: 733
Joined: Mon Jul 28, 2014 7:50 am
Location: Chadds Ford, PA

Re: Finish schedules and guns

Post by Danl8 »

I see there aren't any replies so I won't feel bad about reviving an old post. I starting the long road to learning to spray and your post here, John, is excellent, especially the observation that newbeez often don't go far enough sanding. I started by spraying water and have a good feel for the operation of the gun. Today I made my orange trees jealous, making enough peel to last a long time. I think I might need to open up the quantity coming thru the gun to get a better wetted surface, but I don't know. Any suggestions? BTW, my rattle can technique is significantly better at this stage -- I'm resisting the recidivist urge.
tippie53
Posts: 7011
Joined: Fri Mar 03, 2006 7:09 pm
Location: Hegins, Pa
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Re: Finish schedules and guns

Post by tippie53 »

different finishes use different set ups
I use Nitro
my main mix is
start with 30% retarder 30 thinner for the 1st few coats
then 10% retarder 25 thinner depending on humidity
John Hall
Blues Creek Guitars Inc
Authorized CF Martin Repair Center
president of Association of Stringed Instrument Artisans
http://www.bluescreekguitars.com
Kbore
Posts: 299
Joined: Sun Jun 25, 2017 3:58 pm
Location: St. Louis area

Re: Finish schedules and guns

Post by Kbore »

When to stop shooting lacquer (Behlen Stringed Instrument)? I've followed the spry schedule, and have 9 coats of lacquer. There are still places on the rosewood back and side with the pattern of the grain; lacquer is not smooth as glass. I have not sprayed a final "flow coat". Without measuring the thickness ( I don't have the measuring tools), how much is enough?

My next question is going to be about the reducer to retarder to lacquer ration. Am I mistaken that 10% of the Reducer Can be retarder?
Measure Twice,

Karl B
ruby@magpage.com
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Joined: Thu May 24, 2012 8:03 am
Location: Chestertown Maryland

Re: Finish schedules and guns

Post by ruby@magpage.com »

John

A post on another forum showed this shot taken hanging on the wall of the Martin finish shop. It is labelled 2014. Is it accurate?

Ed

Click on the shot to enlarge
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Ed M
tippie53
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Joined: Fri Mar 03, 2006 7:09 pm
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Re: Finish schedules and guns

Post by tippie53 »

I guess it is
John Hall
Blues Creek Guitars Inc
Authorized CF Martin Repair Center
president of Association of Stringed Instrument Artisans
http://www.bluescreekguitars.com
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