My first nitro job

hobbio

Cover up when you spray too, I was told that lacquer on your skin does you no favours at all when I was learning to paint cars. The few occasions where I just wore a mask and a t-shirt to paint gave me fucking evil headaches. I've not painted a car for years though, cos I was shit at it.

SimonRF

hobbio said:

Cover up when you spray too, I was told that lacquer on your skin does you no favours at all when I was learning to paint cars. The few occasions where I just wore a mask and a t-shirt to paint gave me fucking evil headaches. I've not painted a car for years though, cos I was shit at it.

Good advice on the skin - do everything you can to keep nitro off your body and out of your face.

When buying a mask you need one which has filters that protect against organic vapours. These are often Organic Vapour and Formaldehyde, rated A1 or A2. The 3M 6000 series are great, and have replaceable filters on.

Even if you're using spray cans wear nitrile gloves when spraying to protect your fingers from overspray, and make sure you've got full length sleeves. 

To make spraying easier we suspend the body on a chain from the ceiling with a stock screwed in to the neck pocket for fine control.

As has been mentioned prep is key - don't skimp on the grain filling if you're using something porous like ash or mahogany, and build up the sealer to allow you to get a super smooth 600 grit base. We wouldn't go any finer than 600 for the base coat, and don't wet sand until you're at the polishing stage. Water is the enemy!

For polishing we go with 600 all the way up to 2000 grit, and then a series of liquid polishing compounds to bring out a really deep high gloss. Burnishing cream, as has been mentioned, does a great job of giving that final shine. Just be careful skipping steps in polishing, as it does risk ending up with a super shiny surface littered with scratches. It can all be done by hand with patience.

DrBob

lamf68 said:

Which is exactly why I get you to paint all my guitars Rich...

Cheers Rob, talking of which, how far are you along getting me the next one?

About £120.. I've got the neck, just waiting for my last load of invoices to be paid and then @GSPbasses will be finishing up the downsized Strat body that I've discussed with him and then it will be over to you !