TheFullMonty
Tele-Holic
Hi All,
I've been doing repairs for years now, but am just now getting into some occasional full refinishing of some personal builds and projects. I have Erlewine's book on finishing, and have found it to be full of useful information. My ultimate goal would be to achieve something similar to the ultra-thin and sunken finishes on 50s Fenders, that are accurately replicated by folks like Danocaster, Carson Hess, etc.
My issue is this: once I've built my clear coats thick enough to prevent burn-through into color coats during my polishing process, the film is much too thick and glassy to replicate an old finish. Any artificial aging is made extremely difficult and unconvincing.
I am using the Qualspray AM-5008 LVLP gun from LMI spraying at around 10 PSI. My clear coat lacquer is 70% Colortone traditional aged gloss from Stewmac, 20% acetone, and 10% Colortone lacquer thinner.
Once a bare wood body is prepped, my typical finish schedule is as follows:
1. Wipe on a thin layer of dewaxed shellac as a sealer. Wait 24 hours.
2. Pore fill if necessary. Wait 24 hours.
3. Spray first coat of sealer. I use my regular lacquer as a sealer. One "coat" is comprised of the following:
--One VERY light mist of lacquer over the entire body to promote adhesion. Wait 30 seconds.
--One medium/light coat of lacquer. Certainly more than a mist coat, but not nearly heavy enough to approach running.
--Wait until first coat is dry to the touch, roughly 1 minute. Blow off the body with spray gun to accelerate drying time.
--Spray a second light/medium coat. Hang up and wait for ~2 hours.
4. Spray second coat of sealer. Wait 2 hours.
5. Spray third coat of sealer. Wait 24 hours and level/scuff sand if necessary with 400 wet/dry.
6. Spray first light color coat. Wait 2 hours and repeat 1-2 times until full coverage is achieved. Wait 24 hours.
7. Spray first clear coat .Wait 2 hours. Repeat 2 more times the same day. Level sand with 320 wet/dry if necessary after 24 hour dry.
8. Spray fourth clear coat .Wait 2 hours. Repeat 2 more times the same day. Level sand with 400 wet/dry if necessary after 24 hour dry.
9. Spray seventh clear coat .Wait 2 hours. Repeat 2 more times the same day. Level sand with 600 wet/dry if necessary after 24 hour dry.
10. Spray light wash coat, a ~70/30 mix of retarder/lacquer. Wait ~14 days.
11. Level sand with appropriate grit based on flatness, usually 800 wet/dry.
12. Remove previous grit scratches with 1k, 1200, 1500, and 2k respectively.
13. Wheel buff with Menzerna brown medium compound, followed by the fine white bar.
14. Hand rub with Colortone swirl remover.
If I reduce my number of clear coats or coat thickness, I tend to blow through my color on the body sides and edges by around the 1000 grit mark.
So, does anyone have any insight on what I may be missing?
Thanks in advance,
Monty
I've been doing repairs for years now, but am just now getting into some occasional full refinishing of some personal builds and projects. I have Erlewine's book on finishing, and have found it to be full of useful information. My ultimate goal would be to achieve something similar to the ultra-thin and sunken finishes on 50s Fenders, that are accurately replicated by folks like Danocaster, Carson Hess, etc.
My issue is this: once I've built my clear coats thick enough to prevent burn-through into color coats during my polishing process, the film is much too thick and glassy to replicate an old finish. Any artificial aging is made extremely difficult and unconvincing.
I am using the Qualspray AM-5008 LVLP gun from LMI spraying at around 10 PSI. My clear coat lacquer is 70% Colortone traditional aged gloss from Stewmac, 20% acetone, and 10% Colortone lacquer thinner.
Once a bare wood body is prepped, my typical finish schedule is as follows:
1. Wipe on a thin layer of dewaxed shellac as a sealer. Wait 24 hours.
2. Pore fill if necessary. Wait 24 hours.
3. Spray first coat of sealer. I use my regular lacquer as a sealer. One "coat" is comprised of the following:
--One VERY light mist of lacquer over the entire body to promote adhesion. Wait 30 seconds.
--One medium/light coat of lacquer. Certainly more than a mist coat, but not nearly heavy enough to approach running.
--Wait until first coat is dry to the touch, roughly 1 minute. Blow off the body with spray gun to accelerate drying time.
--Spray a second light/medium coat. Hang up and wait for ~2 hours.
4. Spray second coat of sealer. Wait 2 hours.
5. Spray third coat of sealer. Wait 24 hours and level/scuff sand if necessary with 400 wet/dry.
6. Spray first light color coat. Wait 2 hours and repeat 1-2 times until full coverage is achieved. Wait 24 hours.
7. Spray first clear coat .Wait 2 hours. Repeat 2 more times the same day. Level sand with 320 wet/dry if necessary after 24 hour dry.
8. Spray fourth clear coat .Wait 2 hours. Repeat 2 more times the same day. Level sand with 400 wet/dry if necessary after 24 hour dry.
9. Spray seventh clear coat .Wait 2 hours. Repeat 2 more times the same day. Level sand with 600 wet/dry if necessary after 24 hour dry.
10. Spray light wash coat, a ~70/30 mix of retarder/lacquer. Wait ~14 days.
11. Level sand with appropriate grit based on flatness, usually 800 wet/dry.
12. Remove previous grit scratches with 1k, 1200, 1500, and 2k respectively.
13. Wheel buff with Menzerna brown medium compound, followed by the fine white bar.
14. Hand rub with Colortone swirl remover.
If I reduce my number of clear coats or coat thickness, I tend to blow through my color on the body sides and edges by around the 1000 grit mark.
So, does anyone have any insight on what I may be missing?
Thanks in advance,
Monty