Good weather for the weekend = first attempt at nitro spraying.

fretmeister

If the weather holds I will be trying to spray a neck for the first time.

It will have to be in the garden with a cardboard backstop as I don't have a garage so I'm hoping I can avoid any flies sticking to it.

I've got a maple neck that I've had lying about for ages and a can of Northwest Vintage Amber. Fingers crossed!

paulnb57

Fab weather for spraying!  Good Luck!

Power-Beef

Have a great time, and hope it goes well in all the ways you want. 

BillDL

Whatever you do, make sure it's not left hanging or lying to dry where the sun can move around and shine directly onto it.  I made this mistake with a guitar I was spraying just inside the entrance to my house garage with the door raised.  It was a till day and the sun was warm.  The guitar was hanging in the shade and the lacquer was going on really well.  I went to make tea or answer the phone or something and by the time I came back out the sun had come around the side of the house and to a lower angle and was beating right onto the guitar body.  The outside lacquer starts to harden pretty quickly in warm air and the solvent gases will normally just leach through and dissipate, but in direct sunlight it expands the solvent gases and they bubble up into blisters under the drying top layer.

If the air is too warm and dry the atomised lacquer can start to dry before it lands on the surface.  It's not usually the end of the world as wetter coats on top will smooth out the frosted finish.  Just remember, it doesn't have to be drizzly to be too humid for spraying.  Even on a warm day when it's overcast and the heat is trapped there can be enough airborne humidity to be picked up by the propelled atomised lacquer and also to be trapped in the lacquer to form a hazy / milky bloom.  Sometimes it finds its way out by itself but sometimes the lacquer layer needs to be dissolved with sprayed thinners or a wet coat of lacquer.  You won't see bloom until a minute after you've sprayed, so it's a good idea to spray a wettish coat on something hard and non-porous to mimic the maple neck and wait to make sure before doing the neck.

I like doing necks because I find it a lot easier than a flat body for getting just the right wetness of lacquer without any noticeable overlaps of thinner areas and the spray pattern is wide enough for minimal passes.  It also takes a lot less lacquer than a body, so if you end up with a run that needs to be sanded out you still have plenty in the can.  Be careful if you are reaching the end of the can and the ball bearing is starting to rattle loosely.  That when it starts to miss blasts as you move the can and it spatters out drops of propellant.

EDIT - Oh, I've just seen the date.  How did the spraying go yesterday?

GoldenEraGuitars

Warm and dry air will require you to put down some fairly wet coats by holding the can much closer to the body or neck that you’re spraying. Otherwise, the paint will dry in the air before it hits the subject.

Conversely, I would actually say that an cold and crisp bright winter day is the best conditions for spraying. Lacquer loves cold and dry air as opposed to warm and dry air. 

Winny_Pooh

Whatever you do, if you see a run or bit of dust in the wet finish DO NOT TOUCH IT. Fix it an hour or 2 later when drier, before the next coat.

BillDL

The other day I ended up with two fruit flies on my still damp and sticky body lacquer.  They must love the sweet smell because there weren't any around until I started spraying.  I let it dry and more or less swiped across it with very fine paper (like P1500) leaving two Damien Hirst style half cross section fruit flies in the lacquer.  Fortunately it was the 2nd clear coat after the metallic flake, so their tiny wee gossamer wing and tiny translucent green half body just looked like bits of the metal flake that are now covered with more clearcoat 

WezV

Winny_Pooh said:

Whatever you do, if you see a run or bit of dust in the wet finish DO NOT TOUCH IT. Fix it an hour or 2 later when drier, before the next coat.

Good advice.

But i will add that you can sometimes wick away wet lacquer in a run to stop it travelling further.  I have successfully done this with the edge of paper very gently placed into the head of the run on occasion

 You will still be waiting till it's dry to level it off and fix, but taking away the excess lacquer can get you there quicker as you are not waiting for a thicker drip to get dry enough to scrape or sand.

Obviously better to avoid runs altogether