Sun came out, sprayed some sealer on the Maca Dred.

[Kevin Sjostrand]

The weather was favorable yesterday; 70 degrees and 45% humidity, so I put up the spray booth and sprayed some sealer coats.
I am using Behlens Vinyl Sealer and my spray gun.....the first time to use both. The instructions say ready to use out of the can.
Hmmm....
I sprayed some thinner to make and effort to adjust the gun. Filled the pot half full of sealer and sprayed at 60 psi. TOO much air.
Also, I had a pebbly finish on the first coat, so I tuned the air down to 45 psi, and had better success, but it was still pretty rough.
I don't think you are suppose to really do much building with this vinyl sealer. Today I sanded it back a bit, not a level sand, just a light scuff sanding. Then I thinned some sealer at about 20%, and set the psi at 40. I really liked this combination. I got a pretty smooth coat on this time. So I have a healthy 3 coats of sealer. Probably too much, but next time I'll know better what to do. (John, Ken, am I going to be okay with this much sealer on?)

Here are some pics of the body after yesterdays spray, before I hit it again today.
The little voids and gaps, as well as the very small pores really start to show up. I will do a little drop filling with lacquer before I start spraying the build coats. I am going to have to learn as I go. I haven't touched a spray gun in about 35 years, and even then I was spraying adhesives. It is fun though, and exciting to see the wood under some finish. The pictures show the colors and grain starting to pop.
I am open to any and all experiences............
I have Behlens Stringed Instrument Lacquer and reducer is on the way. I don't think I need the retarder (yeah right).....I hope I don't need the retarder, cause I didn't buy any. I will start spraying lacquer next weekend if the weather cooperates.
Thanks for taking a look.

Kevin

[Ken C]

Great looking guitar, Kevin! Oh yeah! Nice to see some coats going on! I'll bet you were pretty excited to finally start shooting! Refer to your gun for pressure and use their recommended settings as a starting point. If you are using an HVLP gun, 60 psi is definitely too high. I have a regulator at the gun, but use that only for fine adjustments. I try to get the pressure close by adjusting at the tank.

BTW, what are you using as a spray booth? Don't know if I recall reading about that. I have a cheesy knock down one, but I am thinking of building something better for my next spray job.

Also be sure to let us know how you like that instrument lacquer. I have had good success with Target's water-based lacquer as I can spray it in my garage without fear of blowing the house up, but it isn't as easy to use as nitro.

Good luck!

Ken

[Kevin Sjostrand]

Ken,
This is a regular high pressure siphon gun. 60 psi seemed way too much. I think 35 to 40 psi is going to be about right.
I have a knock down booth I built when I was building #2. It is a 6' x 6' that fits nicely on my back patio with room to get around it.
It is in 4 pieces; a bottom, top and two sides. I tie the two sides in the back together with a cross member. The front is open. I have a board across the top with a couple of eye bolts for hanging, and the whole thing is wrapped in clear plastic.
The plastic will be replaced next time. The frame sits outside all year and it is starting to show effects of the weather, but I don't have room to store it in the garage/shop. It just screws together. I put it up Saturday morning in about 45 min. No fans or lights, so spraying has to be done in the daylight.....and nothing to assist in blowing me up!

Your finishes come out so nice........I am going to really try and get it right this time.

Kevin

[Ken C]

Kevin, Spraying can be frustrating to learn, but it is one of my favorite parts of building. Once you learn to work with your setup and finish, it is quite enjoyable. Take your time, spray thin coats, and don't sand through the finish at the edges.

I did notice in your pics that you have a lot of open pores visible. I start with a petty level finish but I am not using a sealer. Maybe your sealer will level them out for you.

Ken

[Kevin Sjostrand]

Yeah that end wedge is the dark red wood of the Macauaba. It is more porous than the rest of the bodywood. I probably should have floated some superglue in there. The center area down the back is like that too. It will take a couple of extra coats in those areas. I didn't pour fill this wood, but I think it will fill with the build coats. I am going to take extra care when level sanding too.....stay away from the edges. Once the final coat is on, I plan to let it sit for at least a month.

Kevin

[Ken Hundley]

Kevin, that looks fantastic. You could probably do some CA filling even now.....scrape it clean and recoat. I bet it would work. Keep the pics coming, that will be one beautiful guitar!

[David L]

Thanks for the pictures Kevin, I really like that wood. It's going to be a killer looking guitar!

David L

[Kevin Sjostrand]

Today was perfect weather for spraying; 70 degrees and 37% humidity. I managed to put 4 coats on today, spraying 1.5 hours apart.
I thinned the Behlens 20% and it flowed out pretty well. There is orange peel, but that of course will melt away with each new coat.
There is certainly much to learn about spraying: adjusting the gun, the mix, the spraying technique. It is fun though! I hope I learn alot on this one, and can make the next even better. It is beginning to look shiney..and oh so purty.
I plan on spraying 4 more coats tomorrow, then letting it sit until next weekend. I may level sand then, before spraying the final 4 coats, hoping that 12 on top of two sealer coats will be enough. We shall see.

Kevin

[Ken C]

So, Kevin, where are the photos?

If you finish is still a bit rough looking, I'd probably level sand prior to shooting those final 4 coats. That is also a good time to do any drop filling you may need to do. You will be able to see the low spots in the pores easily after you have level sanded. You can drop fill, level those spots, then shoot your final four coats.

Let's see it!

Ken

[Kevin Sjostrand]

Ken,
I don't do well with the camera. There is no light in the spray booth, but I should have shot a couple before taking the git out and putting it in the garage for the week. I'll take some tomorrow evening while there is still some light.
Today I was planning on spraying 4 coats. After one, I had the spray gun sitting on the bench in the garage waiting for the next spray, and I knocked it off the bench. The pot popped open and a bunch of my lacquer ended up on the garage floor. I only purchased one quart, which should have been plenty. So.....
I went ahead and sprayed two more coats. So I have a total of 7 on there now. I have enough lacquer, if I thin it down to spray 2 or 3 more thin coats. So I'm going to let this thing sit till next weekend, level sand it Saturday morning and yeah Ken, I'll drop fill any needed areas then, and then spray the remaining lacquer and hope that is enough. It should be, unless I have a problem that isn't showing up yet. I have a nat on the back and a couple of other "foreign material" spots that showed up while spraying today. So even in a booth, the bugs get in. They should sand out, and if need be, I can scrap a little and drop fill there also.
Ken, your finishes look so good, when does it start getting easy? I have pretty good orange peel on the surface. I am hoping that it will level out okay.
So, pictures tomorrow night, hope they show how nice this wood is.

Kevin