Engelmann Spruce Top and Honduran Mahogany B&S

[George]

Bob, your guitar looks amazing!! You do outstanding work.

I used Timbermate grain filler on my first kit build and didn't like it at all. On number two I used Zpoxy and I think it is what I'll use from now on. Unless someone convinces me there's something better for filling pores.

I sat around dreading and worrying about spraying my first lacquer finish. Now I'm looking forward to spraying number three. I enjoy the process.

Thanks for sharing your build. Looks Great!!

George

[Bob Moore]

I used the Timbermate once as well. I wasn't really "getting" the pore filling thing. As really simple as it is, I didn't know how to do it. But with this stuff, I'm getting the hang pretty well.

Today I took off work to take my car to find out whether I'm going to need a new transmission or not - it did not go well! But on the way, I was going to take my air compressor to be fixed. Earlier this summer I tried to use it, and it kept throwing breakers. I had not used it for about a year or two. Turns out, the trip to the dealer shook enough of the - what we call "dirt dobbers" or "daubers" nest from the motor. The thing fired right up. Gawd, if only it was my car :(

At any rate, this weekend I'm going to try to learn to spray Emtech 6000. I'm hearing several different techniques, and am a bit confused right now on it. Some say to spray lighter - I think to prevent the "blue" cast that water based finishes can cause. Then others say to spray heavy coats. I'm going to try to find a medium. I'm lining up some guitar-sized boards to practice on, so I can learn about the spray gun itself and spraying in general.

George, thanks, I think the wood makes the work look better. What type finish do you spray, and do you spray light or heavier coats?

Thanks,
Bob

[George]

I spray Cardinal Nitro. I spray pretty heavy and stick my gun right in there,,,,, I’d say around six to eight inches away. I really like Cardinal but I’ve never sprayed anything else so I can’t say my opinion is from experience with other brands.

George

[John Parchem]

At any rate, this weekend I'm going to try to learn to spray Emtech 6000. I'm hearing several different techniques, and am a bit confused right now on it. Some say to spray lighter - I think to prevent the "blue" cast that water based finishes can cause. Then others say to spray heavy coats. I'm going to try to find a medium. I'm lining up some guitar-sized boards to practice on, so I can learn about the spray gun itself and spraying in general.

George, thanks, I think the wood makes the work look better. What type finish do you spray, and do you spray light or heavier coats?

Thanks,
Bob

I am spraying a refinish job with EM6000 and I am spraying between 3 and 4 mil coats. This is lighter than I have been spraying and does not flow out as well as slightly thicker coats but there is not any hint blue tint after 15 coats the finish looks even and looks like it will sand level.

I use a wet mil gauge on scrap (actually my spray booth walls) to test the spray gun setup. These gauges are often free at paint stores.

[Bob Moore]

Thanks both of you, George and John. I watched a video earlier of a guy describing what he looked for in spraying. He wanted a spray a fan that was the span of the hand wide, and he wanted to spray at a hand's span from the object. So I'm going to try to remember "hand span fan". Sounds like something to shoot for. It'll help me remember consistency, so once I dial it in, maybe things will go pretty well. I'm now excited to start on it.
Again, much appreciated, guys.
Bob

[Bob Moore]

Made some progress this week. I'd gotten the wrong shellac, then ordered and got the right shellac, then read more and more where there were problems with the shellac and Emtech 6000. Of course, I didn't read the right stuff until I'd put some on. But one coat of the shellac, and I started sanding it back. It felt waxy to me, even though it was de-waxed Zinsser sealcoat. I had emailed the guy at Target, and after his response, I decided to forego the shellac coat. So I used denatured alcohol as he said to do, and then started spraying. Of course, mother nature got in the way and I had to stop for over a day. But, now I'm spraying. I got 3 coats on Thu, 5 coats yesterday and will do 5 today. I leveled after the first 3 because of the gap in time. Then wiped with some DNA and did the 5 yesterday.

Here's how it looked after sanding back yesterday's coats.



Then after the 2nd coat today.





It did take a good while to sand back to level on the top and back. Surprisingly for me the sides went pretty easily. The troji came in handy for that part.

I'll probably do the 5 coats today, then sand tomorrow, and 3 final coats on Tue nite.

Can't wait for it all to cure.

[Kevin in California]

Very nice Bob. When you are done I'll be very interested to hear your take on using the water based lacquer.

Kevin