Final level and polishing

thornlv

I am soon to complete a body respray with nitro and am next thinking about the final level and polish, ok I have the required wet n dry papers in various grits but would like to find out what I should use for the final buffing and polish - not too sure what to go for.

any suggestions ?

TimberG

Hi there I have used G3 cutting compound and then the G3 polishing compound for all mine, its an automotive product but a friend of mine also swears buy it for polishing carbon fibre moulds made by Farecla [do not buy from Halfords as its not industrial] buy from a auto paint shop.

Sarge

I use wet and dry up to 2000, then Farecla G3 on a polishing mop then Maguires Ultimate Compound on a lambswool polishing bonnet, the Maguires smells like sweeties so she won't go mental if you do it in the house  

Danielsguitars

I use 1200 to flat then ferecla g3 and finesse-it, i think that's by 3m, that's what I'm used to using anyway.

lamf68

If you've already bought papers don't start with anything lower than 1200 and work up to 3000 if you've got it,itll take a while,  more like an age, but it'll be so worth it... I think I'm the only idiot using pumice powder and rotten stone to cut with ... stuck with what I've known for years.. Cheap as any cutting compound, lasts and lasts and you can see it drying properly on a guitar... May be a bit fiddly to mix, and I use baby oil to mix it to paste but fuck me it's the greatest shine ever. I still use meguiers ultimate in some situations and that's great too,  and always finish off with virtuoso premium polish... You're in for a long old Road mate. 

Deadman

I've got pretty much everything listed and some but still prefer sitting down for a few hours with some micromesh and good old fashioned T-Cut. I wouldn't want to polish a car back like it obviously but for a guitar it always feels right to me. 

thornlv

Looks like the G3 stuff is popular and finishing with meguires, most people are advocating by hand so what exactly are your processes - technique

Deadman

I use white spirit to wet flat with and keep drying with paper towels, being very careful not to break through, until I get the very flat finish I want. Then I use the cutting compound in a circular motion on a damp microfibre cloth. Lots of elbow grease required. Once it's popping I apply a final wax (currently Meguiars Carnauba because it smells so good!).

lamf68

Same, wet sanding with white spirit then cut with a dodo-juice buffing machine... Could never go back to hand buffing now, simply not enough hours in the day for me. 

IvisonGuitars

@Deadman @lamf68 Wet sand with white spirit? Ive always used water with a bit of washing up liquid but the paper would clog regularly. Does the white spirit method stop this? Be great if it does! 

Deadman

It all depends on how 'cured' your nitro is and often how good a quality product it was in the first place, Neil. It can still clog up somewhat depending on how it was applied (was it allowed to dry sufficiently between coats) how long it's been on there and how much has been applied. I used to use water too until I discovered the white spirit method from Ian (above) and Wez. Who needs the potential of water going into bare wood?

Deadman

lamf68 said:

Same, wet sanding with white spirit then cut with a dodo-juice buffing machine... Could never go back to hand buffing now, simply not enough hours in the day for me. 

I have a buffer, albeit an industrial sized one. I use it on cars mainly. The dodo juice looks great, much less cumbersome. Hmmm.

lamf68

Deadman said:

lamf68 said:

Same, wet sanding with white spirit then cut with a dodo-juice buffing machine... Could never go back to hand buffing now, simply not enough hours in the day for me. 

I have a buffer, albeit an industrial sized one. I use it on cars mainly. The dodo juice looks great, much less cumbersome.Hmmm




It seriously saved my sanity mate, I use 3 different pads on it, couldn't tell you the exact rating of them, but one is firm, one medium firm and one squishy. .. Doubt theyre sold as such but that's how they feel. . I'll give a body a once over with the firm one with the rotten stone mix, then do the medium one with the pumice powder and the soft one with pumice again. I did contemplate mounting the machine to the worktop and put the guitar to it, but found the "Fling"  of it was too risky.  It's taken so much time off the final work it's not true. A little risky on edges and it heats like hell, so you gotta keep the thing moving, but it takes out 1200 grit sanding marks in conjunction with the rotten stone within 2 minutes. 

lamf68

miserneil said:

@Deadman @lamf68 Wet sand with white spirit? Ive always used water with a bit of washing up liquid but the paper would clog regularly. Does the white spirit method stop this? Be great if it does! 




Clogging will happen if you are wetsanding too firmly on a finish that isn't quite hard enough, the white spirit is solely used to alleviate the wood swelling from screw holes and the like. You may have gotten lucky so far avoiding wood swell but it will happen sooner or later and you'll be gutted, you can get lucky and the swell will dissipate totally but more often than not the wood will remain raised and ridged totally screwing up your hard work. If you've sealed the wood really well in the first place it should never be a problem anyway and water and soap will be fine, but ive had instances over the years where I've thought I'd done enough and blown it with getting water into pickguard holes. It's not worth the risk in my opinion, and there's low odour white spirit out there which is what I use, doesn't burn you retinas when using it and doesn't stink as bad as the regular stuff. 

hywelg

David Dyke sells a polishing compound, called burnishing cream. It is very good for that final polish. G3 is too coarse IMO, T-Cut, similarly, and various others I've tried, always revert to burnishing cream, it'll take out quite noticeable scratches and polish up to a high gloss without too much effort.