Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Glaze on January 24, 2011 at 5:05am

Scotty

 

You are wanting to take your finishing to the next level.  Meguiars makes some of the very best compounds for rubbing out a finish and you could research this on their website.  You can find these types of products at the local auto body supply.

 

I don't recommend waxing a guitar finish.  The wax would make the neck feel sticky when playing.  Guitar manufacturers wet sand the finish and polish it on a big buffing wheel (you can use cheese cloth and rub by hand with the compound which is hard work) with rubbing compound on the high end instruments.  The cheaper instruments are just painted and they do not wet sand and polish those.  The only reason a high end instrument is wet sanded and polished is to get rid of the orange peel look of the finish which is not flat.  Wet sanding flattens the finish and once the finish is polished it will look like a mirror.     

 

I have professionally painted and polished over 400 guitars.  I'm gearing up to make a CBG.  I'm not going to do a fancy finish on my CBG.  I do not plan on painting the cigar boxes I have at all, but I have some nice cigar boxes that have a nice finish on them already.  I will be finishing the neck I make with Sutherland Welles polymerized tung oil because it's a good tough finish that lasts (this finish is mostly used on wood floors).  It won't look glossy.  No polishing will be done either.  I may steel wool or sand the finish with very fine sandpaper to make it look duller and more natural which also makes it feel better to play on.  This finish will last for decades on a guitar and be permanent.

 

I like the look of the simplest CBG's that are very basic and work perfectly.  I want to build one because I like the tone some builders get with them.  I also was looking for a travel guitar and most of the travel guitars are not a full scale length guitar or they look weird.  Many CBG's look cool and I can make one in a full Fender or Gibson scale length.   

 

 

 

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Permalink Reply by Mister Scott on January 24, 2011 at 5:29am

Thanks for the tips, Glaze. I usually don't go further than steel-wooling the clearcoats on my necks, but I am using a pre-made neck from an old bass that is already a nice glossy white; the box was also originally a glossy white but it had to be sanded down due to paper removal and accident-fixing. I figured, as long as I was repainting the box, I might try and match the gleam of the neck.

Glaze said:

You are wanting to take your finishing to the next level.  Meguiars makes some of the very best compounds for rubbing out a finish and you could research this on their website.  You can find these types of products at the local auto body supply.

 

I don't recommend waxing a guitar finish.  The wax would make the neck feel sticky when playing.  Guitar manufacturers wet sand the finish and polish it on a big buffing wheel (you can use cheese cloth and rub by hand with the compound which is hard work) with rubbing compound on the high end instruments.  The cheaper instruments are just painted and they do not wet sand and polish those.  The only reason a high end instrument is wet sanded and polished is to get rid of the orange peel look of the finish which is not flat.  Wet sanding flattens the finish and once the finish is polished it will look like a mirror.     

 

I have professionally painted and polished over 400 guitars.  I'm gearing up to make a CBG.  I'm not going to do a fancy finish on my CBG.  I do not plan on painting the cigar boxes I have at all, but I have some nice cigar boxes that have a nice finish on them already.  I will be finishing the neck I make with Sutherland Welles polymerized tung oil because it's a good tough finish that lasts (this finish is mostly used on wood floors).  It won't look glossy.  No polishing will be done either.  I may steel wool or sand the finish with very fine sandpaper to make it look duller and more natural which also makes it feel better to play on.  This finish will last for decades on a guitar and be permanent.

 

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Permalink Reply by Mungo Park on January 24, 2011 at 5:53am

A lot of necks have been finished with gunstock finish  Tru Oil:

http://sport.birchwoodcasey.com/Finishing.aspx

 

It is easy to put on comes to a nice finis and is very durable, it will give you a great finish.

 Might be something to try next time

           Cheers Ron.

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Permalink Reply by Josh Gayou (SmokehouseGuitars) on January 24, 2011 at 8:08am

Glaze,

With that kind of background, would you be willing to write a how-to on the finish/polish process?  Different types of finishes are a subject that we're a little light on in the plans section.

Glaze said:

Scotty

 

You are wanting to take your finishing to the next level.  Meguiars makes some of the very best compounds for rubbing out a finish and you could research this on their website.  You can find these types of products at the local auto body supply.

 

I don't recommend waxing a guitar finish.  The wax would make the neck feel sticky when playing.  Guitar manufacturers wet sand the finish and polish it on a big buffing wheel (you can use cheese cloth and rub by hand with the compound which is hard work) with rubbing compound on the high end instruments.  The cheaper instruments are just painted and they do not wet sand and polish those.  The only reason a high end instrument is wet sanded and polished is to get rid of the orange peel look of the finish which is not flat.  Wet sanding flattens the finish and once the finish is polished it will look like a mirror.     

 

I have professionally painted and polished over 400 guitars.  I'm gearing up to make a CBG.  I'm not going to do a fancy finish on my CBG.  I do not plan on painting the cigar boxes I have at all, but I have some nice cigar boxes that have a nice finish on them already.  I will be finishing the neck I make with Sutherland Welles polymerized tung oil because it's a good tough finish that lasts (this finish is mostly used on wood floors).  It won't look glossy.  No polishing will be done either.  I may steel wool or sand the finish with very fine sandpaper to make it look duller and more natural which also makes it feel better to play on.  This finish will last for decades on a guitar and be permanent.

 

I like the look of the simplest CBG's that are very basic and work perfectly.  I want to build one because I like the tone some builders get with them.  I also was looking for a travel guitar and most of the travel guitars are not a full scale length guitar or they look weird.  Many CBG's look cool and I can make one in a full Fender or Gibson scale length.   

 

 

 

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Permalink Reply by Glaze on January 24, 2011 at 1:40pm

Josh

 

Finishing does require a thick book to cover it properly.  Painting all of the guitars and cars that I have means I know how to do it right and I learned all of the small tricks to get perfect results.  I imagine few people on this forum have all of the pro spray equipment, but you don't need it for building one or two CBG's guitars because you can buy many different types of finishes in spray cans or rub on oil finishes that will get perfect results too.  When I build my CBG I should take some pictures and show exactly what finish I used and how I applied it.   

Josh Gayou (SmokehouseGuitars) said:

Glaze,

With that kind of background, would you be willing to write a how-to on the finish/polish process?  Different types of finishes are a subject that we're a little light on in the plans section.

 

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Permalink Reply by Josh Gayou (SmokehouseGuitars) on January 24, 2011 at 1:47pm

It would be awesome if you did.  Would love to get that added somewhere in the plans section.  Specifically lacquer/varnish work, wet sanding, and polishing without the benefit of spray equipment.  All that I've ever really used is a FP.  It prefer it and am pretty good at it but the people around here want alternatives, you know?

Glaze said:

Josh

 

Finishing does require a thick book to cover it properly.  Painting all of the guitars and cars that I have means I know how to do it right and I learned all of the small tricks to get perfect results.  I imagine few people on this forum have all of the pro spray equipment, but you don't need it for building one or two CBG's guitars because you can buy many different types of finishes in spray cans or rub on oil finishes that will get perfect results too.  When I build my CBG I should take some pictures and show exactly what finish I used and how I applied it.   

Josh Gayou (SmokehouseGuitars) said:

Glaze,

With that kind of background, would you be willing to write a how-to on the finish/polish process?  Different types of finishes are a subject that we're a little light on in the plans section.

 

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Glaze on January 24, 2011 at 7:32pm

Josh

 

I can do that.  I would show it in a way that anyone on here could do it if they were determined enough to do it with spray cans, using some very fine grit wet sanding paper and some cheese cloth to buff it up with by hand using Meguiars polishing compound(does not sound easy and it isn't).  I noticed Stu Mac has spray lacquer in spray cans, but the nitro lacquer they offered was not sold in spray cans.  If I could find the right nitro lacquer in a spray can that would be the perfect solution for everyone wanting to do it at home.  I do like working with nitro lacquer especially if it is like the old school brittle hard lacquer of the 50's and 60's which will crack over time.  I will try and find the perfect spray can solution for everyone, so if anyone already knows a good supplier please mention it.  There are other products that will work, but a good nitro lacquer is a classic finish that is easy to work with.        

Josh Gayou (SmokehouseGuitars) said:

It would be awesome if you did.  Would love to get that added somewhere in the plans section.  Specifically lacquer/varnish work, wet sanding, and polishing without the benefit of spray equipment.  All that I've ever really used is a FP.  It prefer it and am pretty good at it but the people around here want alternatives, you know?

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Skeesix on January 25, 2011 at 3:44am

If you want nitro in cans, check out Guitar ReRanch. http://reranch.com/

I've done a lot of spraying, buffing and polishing over the years too. The best thing I've ever found for hand polishing to a flawless high gloss finish is Micro Mesh. You don't need any compounds, you just wet sand it through all the grades. One final coat of polish at the end will bring the finish out even more. Meguiar's is a good brand of polish.

Micro Mesh was originally developed to buff out scratches from aircraft windshields so they're optically clear.

 

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Permalink Reply by Skeesix on January 25, 2011 at 3:47am

 

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Permalink Reply by Glaze on January 26, 2011 at 10:45am

I forgot about Guitar Reranch.   I did visit their website a couple of years ago, but I have never bought anything from them.  Micro Mesh sounds like a fantastic product.

 

I would paint the guitar parts then lightly sand them with 1000 grit sandpaper just to knock off the high gloss of the finish (helps the thinner evaporate faster) and then I would let the painted parts sit around for 30 days to let the thinners evaporate out of the finish.  The finish will shrink until all of the thinner has evaporated out of the painted parts.  Once that is done then you can wet sand the painted parts with finer grits and polish them up.  If the thinners are not completely evaporated out of the finish and it is cut and buffed too soon then the finish will shrink back into the grain of the wood and it will not look perfectly flat and glossy like a mirror anymore.  

 

Anderson guitars uses a UV curing booth for their finishes so they do not have to wait 30 days like I mentioned above.      

Skeesix said:

If you want nitro in cans, check out Guitar ReRanch. http://reranch.com/

I've done a lot of spraying, buffing and polishing over the years too. The best thing I've ever found for hand polishing to a flawless high gloss finish is Micro Mesh. You don't need any compounds, you just wet sand it through all the grades. One final coat of polish at the end will bring the finish out even more. Meguiar's is a good brand of polish.

Micro Mesh was originally developed to buff out scratches from aircraft windshields so they're optically clear.

 

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Permalink Reply by Mister Scott on January 26, 2011 at 11:41am

Glaze, in this process, in what step does the clear coating/lacquer part figure in?

Glaze said:

I would paint the guitar parts then lightly sand them with 1000 grit sandpaper just to knock off the high gloss of the finish (helps the thinner evaporate faster) and then I would let the painted parts sit around for 30 days to let the thinners evaporate out of the finish.  The finish will shrink until all of the thinner has evaporated out of the painted parts.  Once that is done then you can wet sand the painted parts with finer grits and polish them up.  If the thinners are not completely evaporated out of the finish and it is cut and buffed too soon then the finish will shrink back into the grain of the wood and it will not look perfectly flat and glossy like a mirror anymore. 

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Permalink Reply by Mister Scott on January 27, 2011 at 5:16am

By which I mean: do you lightly paint, let dry, clear coat, and wait the requisite 30 days, or paint, wait a month, and then add the clear coat?

Scotty C. said:

Glaze, in this process, in what step does the clear coating/lacquer part figure in?

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