Members Johansolo Posted May 23, 2011 Members Share Posted May 23, 2011 im putting together a frankenstein Tele (MIM neck, HWY1 Body). bought it used, body was dinged up and wasnt the right colour/tint to match the maple neck. i wanted to sand/carve some strat style forearm/belly curves in it anyways so decided to go the refinish route. pics... what i started with forearm/belly carves sandsealer/staining so ive just sprayed on the clear coat which is cabots cabothane (clear gloss poly in a can) and after 2 passes and 24 hours of drying, im VERY happy with the result. its a real consistant finish that looks matte yet glossy... im not after the "dipped in glass" finish and im an OVER SANDING!!! i just wanted enough of a gloss to match the neck, which i have achieved... but im debating whether this is the time to walk away OR do another coat of clear (at the risk or ruining my consistent spray job) ive already had issues with the stain (leaving wipe marks that i was picky/anal about), having to sand/restain/sand/restain... hence why im apprenhensive. teles looke better with some wear & tear dont they? thoughts??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Darkstorm Posted May 23, 2011 Members Share Posted May 23, 2011 Leave it as is. Polish as desired with whatever pastewax for final bit of sheen. Carwax like turtle paste wax is excellent for poly finish. If you do another clearcoat spray the chances to to high of not liking it as well as it is now. Youve got good protection on it now. So only other thing to do after assembled is polish occassionally as desired imo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Jkater Posted May 23, 2011 Members Share Posted May 23, 2011 Looks realy good! If you think the coat is enough protection already, I'd leave it at that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Quarter Posted May 23, 2011 Members Share Posted May 23, 2011 2 coats should meet the minimum recommended, but I'd give it a couple days more to cure and see if it shrinks back and changes much more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members fly_with_v Posted May 23, 2011 Members Share Posted May 23, 2011 If it was finished well before the clear may not sink in all over but it most likely will where you have modified the body. You are going to need at least a few days to check the finish. The main reason for putting a lot of coats is to fill the grain. It you aren't polishing you just need enough to seal the wood. If you are polishing you will probably burn through that light coat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members BoneNut Posted May 23, 2011 Members Share Posted May 23, 2011 Just a suggestion here... No matter how much gloss (or lack of) you want, the surface of the guitar should be perfectly smooth. Once the transparent has dried, you want to wet sand it with 2000 grit sand paper to eliminate all high points or low spots. Once that's done, the finish will be flat with no shine at all. If you want it to shine a bit more, repeat the sanding process with 4000 grit. You can keep repeating the process all the way up to 12,000 grit, with each consecutive grit giving you just a bit more shine. You can stop once you've achieved the desired gloss. Some guys here have recommended using Scotch bright to tame the shine too. I've never tried that method but the photos they've posted show great results. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Jack FFR1846 Posted May 23, 2011 Members Share Posted May 23, 2011 I sort of agree with BoneNut, but not with the grit. I've painted my own cars with urathane and had the help and advice of a neighbor who has a shop and paints cars that get invited to pebble beach. We blocked out the clear with 600, then 1000 and then compound polished and glaze polished and were done. From what he told me, going above 1000 in grit isn't really doing anything. I agree that the finish needs to be perfectly smooth. More coats won't hurt. You can always sand more. My last guitar got 4 coats, then water sand and repeated a good 10 times, but I wanted some depth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Johansolo Posted May 24, 2011 Author Members Share Posted May 24, 2011 the body is has a good 30 hours of drying now, i should be able to handle it soon.. the finish is defnitely not smooth, its matte/satin like, which to be totally honest, i kinda really dig. hmmmm... ill get some pics up soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Johansolo Posted May 25, 2011 Author Members Share Posted May 25, 2011 after reassessing (the first 2 coats dried like 100grit)...i ended up Emptying the entire contents of my poly gloss on the body this morning. . Hopefully it dries as consistant as it looks when i left it. I didnt bothered sanding anymore,since I figured the surface was consistant enough for the coat to adhere to. Fingers crossed for the next few days of drying. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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