Like many others, I find your videos extremely useful. I am planning on finishing one guitar, just for fun and you just provided me with an alternative solution that will work just fine without breaking the bank. Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge and experience. You are an amazing communicator. I am subscribing now. Cheers!
I see you talking about the buffing pads there, a few months ago I was in the local 3M suppliers and the guy showed me a system they use for polishing headlights I highly recommend it to anyone looking for a simple way to polish. I have a big buffing wheel system I built but its really difficult to get hold of good buffing wheels locally (South Africa) and I have had moderate success with making my own. With the headlight polishing system I use the random orbital sander to take flatter areas to 1200 grit, the edges I do by hand and take to 1500 then move on to the small buffing pads and run through the 3M perfect it one and two on the appropriate pads, orange and then black (I don't know if they do the blue one as a small pad) and end with a hand glaze and the results are incredible. It gives me great control and I have had no rub through or burn through doing it this way. If you are looking for I way to polish effectively without building or buying a buffer and just using a hand drill I highly recommend this.
Great video @highlineguitars - Thanks for taking the time to make these videos, absolutely wonderful. If you could help clarify a couple of doubts I'd appreciate it - 1. How many times do you reuse the foam pads before discarding them? And how do you clean them? 2. How long do you usually spend at the drill press buffer with each pad (just a ballpark)? I've been spraying polyurethane on my guitars for a few months now and I own an automotive polisher which I've been using for buffing, but I'm obviously doing something wrong. Can't seem to get the super fine scratches out, and the finish has a slight whitish haze to it.. Any wisdom would be helpful! thanks
1. I rinse them with warm water, let the dry and keep them in separate zip-lock plastic bags. 2. Just long enough to buff off the compound. About 30 minutes with each pad per body.
Another great video Chris, thank you. I'm having a problem with my buffing getting rid of scratches on my nitro finishes. I think it maybe because of the lacquer residue/dust in the cavities. I realised that the buffing wheel is probably picking up this gritty dust, have you come across this and have you found a quick solution for this. I'm rubbing them down at the moment and blowing off with the airline?
Great video as always. May I ask you please how long should be a truss rod double action in multi scale guitar 24 frets with 25.5-27.5 scale length? I'm disappointed between 440 mm or 460 mm. Pardon metric unit. We European are used to like this 😊
So I was unaware that the pads may make the difference .....I just finished trying to buff out the 1200 grit scratches with a foam pad (light yellow) that costs about 8 bucks at harbor freight with no success .... I am using the McGuires 105 but still no luck.... and I'm super afraid I will go through if I keep trying with this method for a long period of time.... do the pads make that much difference? And how long of time are you saying it takes to do just the top of the body in this manner? ... as in, maybe I'm not taking enough time buffing..... thanks so much... I really appreciate you!
Highline Guitars gotcha... I did sand to 2000 at one point, and still have not been able to get the scratches out of the clear coat using those foam pads that I mentioned along with the c ompund.... and im on a mission to find out what I'm am doing wrong.....
Like many others, I find your videos extremely useful. I am planning on finishing one guitar, just for fun and you just provided me with an alternative solution that will work just fine without breaking the bank. Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge and experience. You are an amazing communicator. I am subscribing now. Cheers!
I see you talking about the buffing pads there, a few months ago I was in the local 3M suppliers and the guy showed me a system they use for polishing headlights I highly recommend it to anyone looking for a simple way to polish. I have a big buffing wheel system I built but its really difficult to get hold of good buffing wheels locally (South Africa) and I have had moderate success with making my own. With the headlight polishing system I use the random orbital sander to take flatter areas to 1200 grit, the edges I do by hand and take to 1500 then move on to the small buffing pads and run through the 3M perfect it one and two on the appropriate pads, orange and then black (I don't know if they do the blue one as a small pad) and end with a hand glaze and the results are incredible. It gives me great control and I have had no rub through or burn through doing it this way. If you are looking for I way to polish effectively without building or buying a buffer and just using a hand drill I highly recommend this.
Amazing! Thank you so much. Also, thank you for always providing great links to the products and stuff you talk about. So helpful.
Many thanks for sharing this helpful info. Great video.
Excellent video. Thank you for sharing your knowledge.
Another great lesson. I just finished polishing the back of a bass body that had "gunk" on it by hand after wet sanding.My arm still hurts.
Great video @highlineguitars - Thanks for taking the time to make these videos, absolutely wonderful. If you could help clarify a couple of doubts I'd appreciate it -
1. How many times do you reuse the foam pads before discarding them? And how do you clean them?
2. How long do you usually spend at the drill press buffer with each pad (just a ballpark)?
I've been spraying polyurethane on my guitars for a few months now and I own an automotive polisher which I've been using for buffing, but I'm obviously doing something wrong. Can't seem to get the super fine scratches out, and the finish has a slight whitish haze to it.. Any wisdom would be helpful!
thanks
1. I rinse them with warm water, let the dry and keep them in separate zip-lock plastic bags.
2. Just long enough to buff off the compound. About 30 minutes with each pad per body.
Bought a used one stewmac brand. Does the belt on yours get hot? Not sure if mine I set up properly. Where did you buy the menzerna polish compound?
Another great video Chris, thank you. I'm having a problem with my buffing getting rid of scratches on my nitro finishes. I think it maybe because of the lacquer residue/dust in the cavities. I realised that the buffing wheel is probably picking up this gritty dust, have you come across this and have you found a quick solution for this. I'm rubbing them down at the moment and blowing off with the airline?
I find scratches are always the result of improper sanding technique and/or poor quality abrasives.
Thanks you for sharing. Great Video.
I recently purchased a ShopFox buffer and was wondering which pulley you have for your motor.
I have a 3" diameter pulley on my motor and a 4" diameter pulley on the wheel shaft.
Great video as always. May I ask you please how long should be a truss rod double action in multi scale guitar 24 frets with 25.5-27.5 scale length? I'm disappointed between 440 mm or 460 mm. Pardon metric unit. We European are used to like this 😊
460mm.
So I was unaware that the pads may make the difference .....I just finished trying to buff out the 1200 grit scratches with a foam pad (light yellow) that costs about 8 bucks at harbor freight with no success .... I am using the McGuires 105 but still no luck.... and I'm super afraid I will go through if I keep trying with this method for a long period of time.... do the pads make that much difference? And how long of time are you saying it takes to do just the top of the body in this manner? ... as in, maybe I'm not taking enough time buffing..... thanks so much... I really appreciate you!
I would recommend sanding to 2,000 grit or higher if you don't have a buffing machine.
Highline Guitars gotcha... I did sand to 2000 at one point, and still have not been able to get the scratches out of the clear coat using those foam pads that I mentioned along with the c ompund.... and im on a mission to find out what I'm am doing wrong.....
Wondering if the foam pads are not aggressive enough or something
What rpm are you running your drillpress?
1100 rpm