Nitro Rattle Finish

[Danl8]

The body was built this winter and in April the finish started. I've been following John Hall's experiments with great interest since spraying nitro is beyond my grasp at this time. John's experiments have given me a real confidence boost. After a rough start with my basic sprayer set up, I decided to go back to rattle cans of nitro. For the last three months, I've sprayed two coats then cured for a week or two, then sanded with 400 3M Sandblaster Pro paper. The spray pattern is best when the can is between half to full and half to empty is good for building the finish up. I finally got to a point where it looks like this might work. Last night I drop filled some holes and that was surprisingly easy and effective. I am thinking about getting a buffing wheel, but am not sure about how to get it running beyond flipping a switch. The pictures show where the guitar is at today. I built a dred with this 00 and for whatever reason the finish is much nicer with the same spray 'n pray process.

[tippie53]

the most important thing I can pass on is that it isn't what you put on it is what you let on. often you get more on that needed and don't sand down enough. When in doubt take a test look at the depth under the fretboard or bridge area you may be surprised at what is there. My wipe on was down to under .006 thou . I am sarting the level sanding on the 000 and will post pics and progress soon

[ruby@magpage.com]

Dan

That looks great - and you have MUCH more patience than I do. My last instrument was Tru-Oil, 8 coats in 4 days, let it sit a week, and polish by hand.

The top is wonderful

Ed

[tippie53]

the finish just adds to the beauty.

[Danl8]

...often you get more on that needed and don't sand down enough...

Very true. It's hard to do. The tendancy is to avoid sanding thru. I think I could have cut down the number of the coats applied if I did sand to the bottom of the low points, but I didn't out of fear of going too far. I got better at that as time went along. No mercy next time.

[Danl8]

Dan

That looks great - and you have MUCH more patience than I do. My last instrument was Tru-Oil, 8 coats in 4 days, let it sit a week, and polish by hand.

The top is wonderful

Ed

Thanks, Ed. After 3 years, I finally feel like I'm starting to make progress. ;-)

[Kbore]

When you called it quits on the build coats, and started to level sand, were there still faint indentations of the grain?

Do those faint grain lines have to be completely gone before starting to level sand?

BTW, I have not level sanded between build coats (as some texts recommend not sanding in between unless you have bogies, bugs or runs). Maybe a scuff but not a regulation sanding.

[tippie53]

using a filler will help to level finish
Most pores will show right after finish but once you manage to build .016 you should be able to sand them level before polish

[ruby@magpage.com]

There are plenty of high-end guitars that do not have the grain filled. It is a personal thing.

Here is one of my favorite makers, amazing aesthetic and I love everything he does

http://www.legeytinstruments.com

Look at the neck on the guitar in the home page picture, then lots of others throughout. Beware - you can lose a couple of hours pretty easily on his site.

The picture is of the head of a guitar I did with a white oak plate and then gold leafed (leaved?) with 23k gold. I wanted the grain to show

Ed

[Danl8]

When you called it quits on the build coats, and started to level sand, were there still faint indentations of the grain?

Do those faint grain lines have to be completely gone before starting to level sand?

BTW, I have not level sanded between build coats (as some texts recommend not sanding in between unless you have bogies, bugs or runs). Maybe a scuff but not a regulation sanding.

Yes, Karl. Each spray/sand cycle made the pore indentations progressively less until they vanished. Same for the grain lines. For an inexperienced finisher (me), a difficult part is to determine how much is too much or too little. I did another dred-sized with the sequoia, same shellac, vinyl, nitro sequence. Although its not guitar store shiny, it really looks good to me. I'm setting the necks now and looking forward to stringing!