DrFacemelt
TDPRI Member
Hello, long time lurker, first time poster.
I think I may have screwed up, but I am curious to hear your input. I have a gloss Shell pink Squier Jazzmaster body that I'm trying to refin to a Satin shell pink. The finish on there is the standard fender super hard poly finish, though not nearly as thick as my 90's Shoreline Gold American Strat. I tried wet-sanding the sheen off with some Rothko and Frost scouring pads as I've seen suggested around the web, and wasn't really thrilled (see pics below), though it was definitely better.
Then I was in Lowe's today and decided to look for a spraycan clearcoat satin. After looking through the selections, I bought the Helmsman Spar Urethane Clear Satin because I ignorantly thought it was just a more waterproof, yellowing resistant, stronger form of polyurethane (and polyurethane should be compatible with polyurethane). At this point I should point out that I do not have a lot of spraying experience and no guitar finishing experience.
I gave it a spray and was immediately confronted with the limitations of my spraying technique. The more experienced people reading this are probably already having their skin crawl, but I had a very thick yellow buildup on the edges when I put on too thick a coat. I then tried to wipe the excess off with a rag dipped in mineral spirits as the can says to do with oversprayed drips, which led to a bunch of rag fibers stuck to the paint. I tried to buff those off which led to a gummy mess. So stopped, I let it all dry longer, did a quick wet sand with 600 grit and 1500 grit to take the fibers and yellow areas down to the original poly, and this time did a much better spray which actually turned out pretty good, except for a few witness lines (which I learned about reading this forum prior to writing this) in the body contours. I was generally pleased with the resulting satin finish, though I will definitely need to hit another coat on the areas I sanded out and resprayed.
Tonight I'm on the web and reading about Helmsman Spar Urethane, and it seems the consensus is that it never really gets hard enough to make a proper guitar finish. But I now have a rock hard undercoat in the color I like and 1.5 topcoats with a satin that I'm reasonably happy with. So would I be better off 1) waiting until the spar urethane is hardened for 48 hours, lightly sand the witness lines, do another even coat, and let it be what it is for however long the finish lasts or 2) remove the spar urethane with either sanding and/or chemical means (is there a stripper for spar urethane that won't damage the factory polyurethane underneath) and start over with another satin clear coat, and if so what (oil-based poly, water-based poly, nitro lacquer)? I do not own a spray gun, but can try cans again, wipe-on or painted finishes. I'm also a little concerned that on the body edges I may be getting close to sanding through the pink to the primer layers, and I'm not really going for a relic job.
I think I may have screwed up, but I am curious to hear your input. I have a gloss Shell pink Squier Jazzmaster body that I'm trying to refin to a Satin shell pink. The finish on there is the standard fender super hard poly finish, though not nearly as thick as my 90's Shoreline Gold American Strat. I tried wet-sanding the sheen off with some Rothko and Frost scouring pads as I've seen suggested around the web, and wasn't really thrilled (see pics below), though it was definitely better.
Then I was in Lowe's today and decided to look for a spraycan clearcoat satin. After looking through the selections, I bought the Helmsman Spar Urethane Clear Satin because I ignorantly thought it was just a more waterproof, yellowing resistant, stronger form of polyurethane (and polyurethane should be compatible with polyurethane). At this point I should point out that I do not have a lot of spraying experience and no guitar finishing experience.
I gave it a spray and was immediately confronted with the limitations of my spraying technique. The more experienced people reading this are probably already having their skin crawl, but I had a very thick yellow buildup on the edges when I put on too thick a coat. I then tried to wipe the excess off with a rag dipped in mineral spirits as the can says to do with oversprayed drips, which led to a bunch of rag fibers stuck to the paint. I tried to buff those off which led to a gummy mess. So stopped, I let it all dry longer, did a quick wet sand with 600 grit and 1500 grit to take the fibers and yellow areas down to the original poly, and this time did a much better spray which actually turned out pretty good, except for a few witness lines (which I learned about reading this forum prior to writing this) in the body contours. I was generally pleased with the resulting satin finish, though I will definitely need to hit another coat on the areas I sanded out and resprayed.
Tonight I'm on the web and reading about Helmsman Spar Urethane, and it seems the consensus is that it never really gets hard enough to make a proper guitar finish. But I now have a rock hard undercoat in the color I like and 1.5 topcoats with a satin that I'm reasonably happy with. So would I be better off 1) waiting until the spar urethane is hardened for 48 hours, lightly sand the witness lines, do another even coat, and let it be what it is for however long the finish lasts or 2) remove the spar urethane with either sanding and/or chemical means (is there a stripper for spar urethane that won't damage the factory polyurethane underneath) and start over with another satin clear coat, and if so what (oil-based poly, water-based poly, nitro lacquer)? I do not own a spray gun, but can try cans again, wipe-on or painted finishes. I'm also a little concerned that on the body edges I may be getting close to sanding through the pink to the primer layers, and I'm not really going for a relic job.
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Actually, one covered with a latex glove.......... This works especially well for Tru-Oil. Like you, I had bad luck with some of the Home Depot rags, blue paper shop towels, and such.
