Its probably considered sacrilege around here.
But are there any good options in acrylic cans
I have not sprayed my builds in the past sticking to oil, wax etc hand finishing. As much as I like guitars finished in Nitro I am also just as happy with well-done poly and not wanting to relic or anything like that.
My concern with the current ones I have lined up is the time for Nitro to gas off and I hear time scales like 5 to 6 weeks etc etc.
How long do people take to can spray with Nitro to and would poly take less time? and allow quicker assembly etc.
regards
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the 5-6 weeks is for it to be ready to buffed. It can be handled a lot sooner than that of you need to.
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Polyurethane will allow you to wet sand, buff and assemble within 7-10 days. If you want a plastic coating to work with for speed and protection, that's your product.
Nitro never fully hardens either. It will move via fluctuation in temperature and humidity.. not to mention the end result is a wafer thin layer on the wood.
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so much hanging around lol
i watched them at the Taylor factory last year with their UV cure system that's the way to get the job done. By the time it's moved round the carousel it ready for sanding buffing etc
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lets clarify. It's more likely a difference in method. Are you using spray cans or doing it properly with a compressor?
i am using cans at the momen. I do light coats. The lacquer is touch dry within 5 minutes every time and can be lightly handled and moved... although I agree leaving an hour is much safer.
given limited space and multiple projects it's important to be able to move things around quite quickly.
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Ive tried light/multiple coat methods but they simply don't work for me tbh. I believe cans have a higher ratio of thinner to paint so dusting is sometimes a wiser route to go down. I usually put a pretty wet edge on towards the end which works well for me.
Do you hang the bodies from the neck pocket or do you lay them flat on a raised surface to spray them (genuine question, not being a smart ass)?
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The recent Les Paul build was only laid flat for the gold top.... hung for the rest
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Its pretty nasty stuff though, and there are a few quirks to be aware of. New coats within a day burn in fine, after a day they can wrinkle the previous coat, a few days later you can re-coat but it wont burn in - you need to key the surface
I used to do about 15 brushed coats within 3 days. I would flat off any remaining brush marks at the start of each day, but yu can minimise them with a decent lacquer brush. A week later it can be buffed and is really tough
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I use standard polyurethance varnish most of the time and that works fundamentally differently to nitro and some other finishes. With Nitro and certain other finishes, each coat 'melts' into the previous coats. As such, you end up with a single, homogeneous layer that you can buff rigorously down to a shine.
With products such as standard polyurethane varnish - and a number of other finishing products, including some acrylics - each coat dries and is then covered by each next coat. What you end up with, therefore, is a number of distinct bonded layers making up the full thickness of the finish (think welsh slate...). Having got the final-but-one coat super smooth, you apply the final one which gives you the final gloss. Once that is hard you can polish it - but you can't buff it as you would nitro. If you do, then the buffing will cut through successive layers and you end up with contour lines of mixed levels of gloss.
This might not apply in the product you are considering - but it's worth looking at the spec first.
you need that last coat to be near perfect.
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i used rustins on stuff years ago a tele istr after reading Melvin Hiscock book when it first came out never heard of it before that. As you say works pretty fast with a brush and nasty if you inhale. That tele has never aged the stuff is like armour plating but probably way over did it back then.
probably just get some nitro cans and get on with it and stop procrastinating. Thanks
http://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/61134/sarge/p1