Final sand on matte finish?

hessodreamy

I’m finishing off a matte finish, having sprayed the matte colour and matte clear coat in mid December. I was planning to leave it till end jan to cure. 

But the texture is a little bit bobbled. Not sure it’s extreme enough to call it orange peel. It’s pretty consistent and you have to look pretty close to see it. 

When spraying the clear coat I did a gentle keying before the final coat. I heard that was the done thing. 

So I was wondering if it needs a final fine sand when it’s cured, or if that would mess things up?

SteveRobinson

I always flat it back then spray one more light coat of lacquer to give an even sheen all over.
https://manchesterguitartech.co.uk/nitrocellulose-lacquer/lacquer-faqs/#satin

GoldenEraGuitars

I thought I recognised the username. I was going to reply to your thread on the TDPRI forum but someone else gave you the answer.

If you work a matte finish it won’t be matte anymore. Scuff down your orange peel surface with 360 or 400 (there abouts, only you can judge) and mist on a final clear coat then leave it alone. Any extra work there after will turn it satin which you don’t want.

Or, leave it as it is and continue with assembly 

hessodreamy

Thanks @SteveRobinson , @GoldenEraGuitars   That’s pretty much what I did, but maybe my spraying technique isn’t up to snuff. Reckon I’ll just leave it be so as not to muck it up. 

Kalimna

To add to the above comments, Ive recently finished my first satin finish, and on Steve Robinsons' advice, I sprayed the final few coats in ordinary gloss clear. Once cured, flatted that off to leave a consistent surface, and a final coat of satin. Worked a charm

Adam

GoldenEraGuitars

hessodreamy said:

Thanks @SteveRobinson , @GoldenEraGuitars   That’s pretty much what I did, but maybe my spraying technique isn’t up to snuff. Reckon I’ll just leave it be so as not to muck it up. 

The idea with a matte finish is to lay down the last coat flat and smooth. This means the previous coats must be prepped and smoothed out prior to the final coat. 

Unless you’re using a proper spraying set up you won’t be able to lay down the final coat as well as you’d like but you’ll still probably get a very good result. 

When I say flat and smooth it’s worth nothing that every finish (after it’s last coat) will still have texture of some sort. But if you’re prep is good you can eliminate most of it. Seeing as you’re doing matte, as I said before, touching it after the final coat is on will mean you get a gloss or satin effect. Try going over that coat with some wet and dry paper, tack rag it down and spray another coat. Once it dries matte just leave it alone. 

I know this picture is of a gloss finish, but this is straight from the gun with all the proper prep done

https://i.imgur.com/8Ii0UcZ.jpg

As with most paints, with the right prep your next coat should always be a big improvement 

hessodreamy

Hm. Seems something was up with my prep and/or spraying (using Steve's cans). What with multiple cockups I spent 3 months and 3 cans of colour respraying. Having sprayed the clear I don't fancy buying more paint, spending more time spraying and curing. It's about time for me to put the guitar together and play the fecker!

Maybe I'll do a better job if I ever do this again.