New KTM WB varnish

[Bob Dill]

I've sprayed about 5 gallons of the Cardinal lacquer and I think it's the best of the instrument solvent based lacquers out there. If you can handle the odor and fumes, it handles really nice, it' hard and buffs out beautifully. After 40 years of shooting solvent based finishes, I can't handle solvent finishes anymore, I switched to KTM SV water based varnish. Once you get a handle on how the spray the product, it compares with lacquer. I just finished a guitar with KTM's new 2009 finish and I think this is the future for finishing musical instruments. It's the best of all the finishes that I've tried so far, if you want more information about the product, go to the Grafted Coatings website and read the test reviews for the 2009. The only problem is the product is only in the test stages and is not yet available for sale. I can't wait to get my hands on some more, it's that good.

[ken cierp]

I've asked around about this new KTM test product feedback back was --- "very very hard" -- very clear, difficult to level after a few days and witness lines a problems after a few days. Witness lines is the main reason I will not use water borne. Since this is hear say I'd like to hear from some actual users if you are out there?

[John Parchem]

I used KTM-SV. I liked the look of the finish but it is harder to work with than EM6000 which is the other WB finish I have used. Witness lines were an issue with the KTM product. Basically you need to have everything level enough so that you can sand the final one coat without sanding through. For the most part I did ok but I did have one area on the side that I sanded through. The witness line became almost unnoticeable when I buffed out the guitar but I can still find it. Our eyes are so good at picking up even the smallest line.

EM6000 is way easier to use. It levels nicely with a wet coat. One coat does burn into the next at least within the time it takes to finish a guitar so I have had absolutely no issues with witness lines. I found that EM6000 is not as clear as Nitro or KTM-SV, but I am very happy with the results.

One note is that I am much better with the spry gun now than I was when I used KTM-SV and could probably get I few final coats on after leveling sanded back without sanding through.

I should try Nitro. I have a spray booth with an officially sized an installed explosion proof fan. My wife was so sensitive to the smell the first time I used it I have been avoiding it.

[Tim Benware]

From onr of the posters on Acoustic Guitar Forum:

"I was one of the testers of KTM 2009. I'm not a production builder by any stretch of the imagination, but I've built a lot of furniture, usually using varnish, so I've really only gotten into rubbing out finishes recently. That said, I know gloss and depth when I see it. The new KTM finish wet the wood very well, popping the grain better than most waterborne finishes have in the past. It didn't appear to have any of that bluish cast and I added some amber TransTint dye just to make sure it had some warmth. I did two experiments, one with just the KTM and one with two seal coats of shellac followed by the KTM. The one with the shellac seal coat was a little bit warmer and had a little better grain pop, but a barely noticeable difference. The depth and gloss was incredible. The "window" into the grain was better than anything I'd ever seen. Polishing it was a bear. It seemed there was a narrow window to polish. It was obviously necessary to let the finish harden adequately before polishing, but if you waited too long, you almost couldn't polish it at all. This was aggravated by the fact that I prefer to polish by hand. If the finish got too hard and I'd rub aggressively to polish, I'd get some hazing. I eventually set up to polish with felt pads on my random orbit sander. This is messy and I really prefer the control hand rubbing gives me. All in all, I'd probably use the new KTM if I could and I've been dogging Matt to start producing it, but it's uncertain when that will happen, so I'm scouring for alternatives."

[Bob Dill]

I just finished a 000 Sinker Redwood and Sepelle with the KTM 2009 and yes there was some witness lines, but they buffed out . I sanded to 4000 and started with coarse Menzerna ,Medium and Fine on a wheel buffer. I started the sanding three days after tha last coat, doing a couple grits a day and buffed on day five. I get witness lines with the KTM SV also and they buff out, I don't think it is an issue. I only wish I had a little more of the 2009 to shoot, I only had 8 oz. for the whole guitar, it would have been nice to have a little more for a better final flow coat. I think there would less witness line if I had more material. I'll send Ken a picture of the guitar, I still have problems posting photos