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

[Kevin Sjostrand]

No 80's yet Ken. This weekend it is going to rain and be in the high 50's so no spraying this weekend.
This time of year the temp and humidity really jumps around, won't start to settle down until May.

Kevin

[Kevin Sjostrand]

Too cold and rainy to spray today, but I was able to level sand the guitar. With 7 coats on, it leveled pretty easily without removing very much lacquer. You can see in the pic of the end wedge that the pores filled nicely after spraying.

I wanted to share with you all this great product for sanding. Perhaps you already know about it, or are using it.
The brand is Mirka(made in Finland), and they call it Abranet. I have it in 6" discs which will stick right to a hook & loop pad, but I'm using it with a sanding block and a flexible special made hook & loop hand sanding pad. It is a mesh material that barely loads at all when sanding the lacquer. When sanding wood, it doesn't load up at all. It also lasts a long time. I'm not sure what all grits it comes in, but I imagine all the normal ones. I have 180, 240 (which is what I used for leveling the finish) and 600. Anyway, check out the pic of the discs to see what it is.
This guitar is now ready for the final coats, 4 more. The forcast is rain through next weekend, so It will have to sit while I make the mold for the next guitar.

Kevin

[Ken C]

Looking great, Kevin. Glad the pores filled in for you. Hope you can get some good weather soon so you can finish spraying.

Ken

[Kevin Sjostrand]

Ooh Ooh Ooh!
It is suppose to be 80 degrees this Friday, and in the mid 70's Saturday. I am so excited, if I don't get side tracked, I should be spraying the last coats on this guitar this weekend.

I also wanted to mention, that my guitar is in a state right now; flat sanded at 600 grit, that I can totally see a matt finish in my future. It really looks pretty cool this way, and feels awesome. It reminds me of a guitar I had that I bought in 1969. It was a German made Hohner Contessa drednaught, mahogany and spruce. It had a matt finish, and I always loved how it looked and felt. By the way, I paid $125 for that guitar new. I let it go a few years ago at a yard sale for $25, before I new anything about guitar building or construction. The neck was warped, and I thought beyond repair. Wish I still had it today, I bet I could have fixed it.

Anyway, the sunshine is coming. Yippee.

Kevin

[Ken Hundley]

Lookin good Kevin! Can't wait to hear it!

[Kevin Sjostrand]

Me too Ken,
I will definately try and get a recording of the new owner playing it when the time comes to share with you all.

Kevin

[Ken C]

Good luck with the weather! Hopefully you can get your last coats shot.

Ken

[Kevin Sjostrand]

This was a good weekend. I have finished the spraying on this guitar. It went pretty well, and I believe I will have a very nice, level finish when I am done. I used my 27 gallon compressor and a cheap gun and it worked. I am going to be searching for an inexpensive, but okay quality self contained HVLP system, maybe in the $300 range for the future. I understand that with this type of system, more lacquer will end up on the guitar!
12 coats of lacquer over 2 coats of sealer. The first 7 coats were thinned 10%. The final coats were thinned with 10% retarder, and 10% reducer. That is a full quart of Behlens lacquer on this guitar, minus all the overspray.
Now it sits for a month.....that's right, a month. I don't need to touch it before then, so I'm going to let it cure well.
When it is all done, I'll post pics in the Show it Off section, until then..............on with the next one.

Kevin

[Kevin Sjostrand]

Oh oh, change of plans. Looks like I will need to deliver this guitar a month sooner than I was planning on; now its the second weekend in May, so I will have to start sanding and polishing, hmmm, lets see, maybe April 23. That will be 3 weeks since the last spray session. That should be plenty long enough. I will look forward to it.
I will put some pics up as I do that!

Kevin