nitro lacquer finishing advice (edit; SUCCESS!)

  • Thread starter Thread starter DanTravis62
  • Start date Start date
I might give you a shout sometime Dan. I’m getting ready to build a body out of American chestnut. It’s pretty much extinct so I don’t know of any guitars made out of it.
 
Sealed and sanded, measured and pre drilled all my wholes for hardware

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thegame said:
Allow for more time in between coats as it takes far longer to dry than Poly. You should be in a ventilated, temperature and humidity controlled environment when doing the job
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No lie... 30 years ago an ex-girlfriends dad and uncle painted a vintage car in black nitro in their driveway on a beautiful, clear and sunny day. I asked about doing it outside and they laughed and said wait and see the finished product. That car was flawless... and black is super difficult to get to look perfect.
 
psychodave said:
No lie... 30 years ago an ex-girlfriends dad and uncle painted a vintage car in black nitro in their driveway on a beautiful, clear and sunny day. I asked about doing it outside and they laughed and said wait and see the finished product. That car was flawless... and black is super difficult to get to look perfect.
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Interesting. I’m surprised anything black was allowed in a neighbourhood you used to frequent.
 
I'm trying to figure out where "1 hour between coats" comes from. That seems way wrong. If I was shooting lacquer in a 90 degree garage my flash time would probably be fifteen minutes, max. Many light coats followed by wet sanding to remove any orange peel.
 
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Gonna have to sand the neck heel a bit, but finished fret job and putting tuners on the neck that's going on it.

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I don't know where @sideburns got this neck but it's quite good, and the waterslide was put on amazingly

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Got some OEM locking tuners on it, this thing is gonna be my boomer cover band machine, to go with my other partscaster tele

This one is a fender custom shop body rescue, with a 70s mighty mite neck, and it's turned into a fantastic guitar - the original plan was to sell it and downsize my incredibly large "parts drawer" that is basically an entire garage of hardware and bodies and nicknacks i keep for repairs, but i would never get the $ its probably worth as a guitar, so i keep playing it 😂

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Next step, borrowing a rebreather from one of my car painting buddies to lay the smackdown on some Inverness green

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Pray for my lungs, rig talk 🙏
 
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DanTravis62 said:
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Gonna have to sand the neck heel a bit, but finished fret job and putting tuners on the neck that's going on it.

View attachment 320868

I don't know where @sideburns got this neck but it's quite good, and the waterslide was put on amazingly

View attachment 320871
Got some OEM locking tuners on it, this thing is gonna be my boomer cover band machine, to go with my other partscaster tele

This one is a fender custom shop body rescue, with a 70s mighty mite body, and it's turned into a fantastic guitar - the original plan was to sell it and downsize my incredibly large "parts drawer" that is basically an entire garage of hardware and bodies and nicknacks i keep for repairs, but i would never get the $ its probably worth as a guitar, so i keep playing it 😂

View attachment 320877
Next step, borrowing a rebreather from one of my car painting buddies to lay the smackdown on some Inverness green

View attachment 320880
Pray for my lungs, rig talk 🙏
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Looks nice Dan, glad it worked good for you. I like the Gracey's. I used their Taos Turquoise on a strat body about ten years ago. The smell of the guitar in the case=incredible. Huff huff huff. Lacquer is child's play on the lungs compared to a good polyurethane believe that.
 
VonBonfire said:
Looks nice Dan, glad it worked good for you. I like the Gracey's. I used their Taos Turquoise on a strat body about ten years ago. The smell of the guitar in the case=incredible. Huff huff huff. Lacquer is child's play on the lungs compared to a good polyurethane believe that.
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Man, it's so fucking stupid that every guitar brand uses poly for everything

It would have saved me a lot of trouble if someone besides Nash (who charge obscene prices) made a cabronita p90 tele in a not-hideous shade of green

even though it's a ton of work, my partscasters turn out so well it's probably worth it

I do fretwork, setups, and minor repairs locally already, so they're so dialed in it's ridiculous by the end

Unfortunately, if one is on the chopping block, I remember the 36 hour fret job and setup and decide it's not worth taking the hit selling them
 
DanTravis62 said:
Pray for my lungs, rig talk 🙏
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I put a box fan pointing out at the opening end of the garage and open the garage just enough to cover the top. The fumes slowly migrate towards that. Plus I still use proper mask. Masks are cheap bro.

Now that you have sprayed some color you’ll really be able to see how well you prepped. If you can see lots of grain anywhere, go back and fix anything if applicable. It’s difficult to fix if you just keep spraying but if you back up a step, it’s worth it for that totally level surface. I’m fighting a ‘line’ in a Pine body now. But grain fill, sand, repeat, then sealing sander, sand, repeat, then clear, and sand more finally filled it. Take the time needed. You may be great now…just sayin.
 
@DanTravis62 you might like 3-M blue vinyl tape for future detail masking. Expensive, but clean lines. You can curve it, it's easily workable, and it doesn't pull up like regular blue painter's tape does. I think they have 1/2" 1/4" 1/8" and 1/16" for laying out custom paintwork. Great stuff.
 
Paint done except for polishing, making sure everything fits

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It's not perfect at all but honestly not half bad for a first try - especially after finding a better sealer for the nitro

It's honestly quite a bit easier to work with than poly 🤷
 
Rocker68 said:
That's a pretty good looking effort .
Well done .
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Thanks man, it's certainly not perfect, and my taping off method was pretty wack

But the actual color and clear coat were very easy once I figured out the correct sanding and sealing routine
 
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