The Trick To Level Sanding A Guitar Finish
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- Опубліковано 24 сер 2024
- By varying your sanding stroke with each grit of sandpaper, you can easily tell when to change grits and eliminate fine scratches in your guitar's clear coat finish.
800 grit wet or dry sandpaper: amzn.to/2LcDunp
1,000 grit wet or dry sandpaper: amzn.to/2mlP2Xc
1,500 grit wet or dry sandpaper: amzn.to/2uwr7st
2,000 grit wet or dry sandpaper: amzn.to/2LnNJFz
Perfect. I use a similar tip for cleaning my trucks windows. On the inside I wipe vertically. On the outside, I wipe horizontally. This way, I can see which side may need to rewipe some streaking!
Great tip with a simple plan to work through the increasing grits. Thx
Great idea to use alternating sanding strokes.
I must admit when you think you’ve seen it all up comes this tip. I’ve been levelling with just circular motion on each grit for decades. I’m going to be using this tip very soon. Thanks you have a new subscriber.
Love it! Thank you very much for taking the time to create this video for us!
I have learned so much from your videos Chris. Thank you 👍
Great to hear!
Based on your recommendations I use Super Assilex and Super Buflex exclusively.
brilliantly simple! Great tip
Excellent tips, as always.
Awesome. Yes! Buffing compound tip would be appreciated!
Thank you
That's such a logical way of looking at it!
10/4 great job lol😊
Clever and simple - nice!
Good video, Chris. We're all waiting for your buffing vid now.
ua-cam.com/video/N669Vd31w1s/v-deo.html
two minute mark - circular pattern with 800 grit, then straight motions using 1000, then 1500 circular, 2000 straight stroke thanks
Perfect video very clear information especially for the beginner like myself thank you 👍
good tips presented well.
Great tip! Will start right away :) Thank you for this.
Great tip I learned this the hard way. Lol You should make a vid explaining the difference between CAMI vs FEPA grade sandpaper’s. This was something that really caused me grief in the beginning. Lol
I start at 1500 grit and when it's almost flat I go to 2000, works for me at least.
I use simtec polyester clear sanding sealer over the paint or graphic, then polyester clear top coat(27x6 A-18 if your interested). dries 90% the hardness of glass and it also sands and buffs nice too! then the final coat is a polyester clear 4.1 ratio. then the wet sanding begins using a 3m palm sander DA starting with 400, 600, 800, 1200, 2000, then 4000 all 3m. stopping every few seconds wiping it dry to check it. I get all of it at napa including the 4000. Comes out really nice!!! You should give simtec polyester a try. you can spray but try to, get a cheap hvlp with a tip bigger then 2.0...also use acetone for the clean up and last which sucks is you only have 25 mins max or it will harden in the gun. I wrecked a nice devibliss hvlp gun the first time then got a couple cheap ones from tcp global. Only thing is I wish I had a stewmac buffing arbor like you do...I've got a adjustable speed dewalt buffer..it works but its a pain. the tools on stewmac are nice but alot are over priced..and theres no other place for guitar making tools that I know of...anyways your method came out great! try the poly sometime :) also nice cnc machine in the background! Wish I had the cake for that too!!
Can you suggest what to do if i've sanded to deep and have exposed the wood in a small area while trying to repair a chip? Thx.
Without seeing the guitar or knowing what type of finish was used, I can't advise.
Chris one thing you never mentioned is how much downward pressure do you place on the sanding block. Is it just he weight of the block with no pressure, or must you press lightly downward. Also I have noticed that if you have low spots (where there is still shine) adjacent areas that are level can get sanded further to which you sand through to paint. I know this happened to you when you did the artist paint job video. It seems almost impossible to avoid sanding through. I know because it just happened to me a couple of days ago, and the frustration go to me to which I had to redo the entire top of my guitar.
Hi, doesn't it mean that your surface wasn't flat in the first place? Also, many people want a very thin clear coat, but a thicker one is much safer when it comes to sanding.
Curious question-I did a cerused finish on an ash body. India black ink with silver gitlt cream sealed between dye and fill then sealed again then 10 coats of light nitro. It ended up being a very thin coating,- you can still feel and see the grain even though I had l sprayed down about 10 coats. Should you even attempt a wetsand when these conditions exist-grain seen and felt to touch? First time with this finish over a ceruse you need to start somewhere and you always give sound advice.
Give the surface a very light sanding with 400-600 grit just to take down the high spots that you can feel. You'll see them when you start to sand as they will appear to have a flat sheen while the low areas will have a glossy sheen. Don't overdo it. Just reduce the high spots. Then, spray a couple more coats. This should reduce the grain quite a bit. If not, repeat the sanding and spraying process until the surface is smooth.
@@HighlineGuitars -thank you for getting right back to me. I live in Montana and spraying nitro is done for season. It looks good, but as I said you really can feel the grain. All of a sudden you find yourself in unfamiliar territory. I had used poly in past but want to try a really light relic so I used a new product to me-Cardinal. It sprayed beautifully. Didn’t have any issues such as orange peel. I will just knock it down very lightly-can you start at a higher grit(1500) when you get a glass like finish? I had sprayed in great conditions (low humidity, 75 degrees f)and it laid down uniform and shiny but followed the grain as I used a wire brush to highlight the grain. I achieved a good fill when using the gilt cream. Vinyl sealer in between dye and gilt cream and then some more sealer as to get a good surface for the nitro to attach.
I will have some below zero weather and plan to freeze it. I love that checked look on nitro. I’m a bit nostalgic about old guitars. I’ll find out. Again-it’s great value to be able to talk to a pro. Thank you-Scott
Which one is better, French polishing or rubbing out a finish. Which one is easier? And finally, it seems like French polishing requires less extra gear, like extra fine grit sandpaper and polishing equipment and compounds.
French polishing is very difficult to successfully pull off. You need a lot of experience and skill. Furthermore, a french polish is far less durable.
@@HighlineGuitars I hear French polishing is less "plastic looking" than lacquer or polyurethane, whatever that means. I also hear they have a more stunning or beautiful polish. I'm not sure what that is based on. It does seem to me that it requires less money, as linen is practically free, and it requires just handful of thin coats. Also, it is less toxic to work with than sprays or some high-voc finishes used. It sounds to me to be a worse choice in most casrs, because it will quickly scratch, and just about any surface worth having a polished finish is one that sees a lot of use, like the top surfaces of furniture.
Are you still using the mirka abralon pads for the 1000 and 2000 grit sanding?
I still prefer the Mirka pads, but if they need to be replaced, there can be a delay. Wet sanding with high-quality 3M sandpaper works just as well, but it's not as clean.
Wow. Man are you sure you aren't Japanese? Your patience and search in the perfection is tremendous. I'd love to build one with the glass like ultra sheen that you produce but when I am at a gig playing and the guitar gets dinged by a mic stand I'd become suicidal. So until I can overcome my limitations I'll stick to a sealer coat of satin finish. (The Tone Gods tell me that a thin finish is essential for ascension to timbre heaven.)
I have been wondering if a very well applied french polish to a solid body guitar can be equal or better in resonance / sonic and tonal properties than the nitro cellulose which is highly praised? Please can you talk about this and go into detail. I am aware french polish is primarily used on acoustic intruments can you please go into detail.
Please advise many thanks!
I’m not the person to ask about this since I stopped using nitrocellulose and French polish 15 years ago. Both are obsolete compared to modern finishes. Also, don’t confuse how an electric guitar works with how an acoustic guitar works. The finish matters with an acoustic guitar, but not with an electric guitar
Thank you