I am looking at used guitar to buy that has a cracksplit in the poly finish. Lacquer develops these cracks spontaneously if its applied too thick. The polyester paint fills and seals the wood grain of the guitar, which allows the polyurethane top coat to adhere better to the guitar. Burnin procedures using behlens lacquer repair kit.
It takes about a cup of wiping varnish to finish a typical guitar according to our schedule. First things first, you will need to assess whether your guitar is suited to this type of finish. Luthier question, how to repair cracked poly finish. To reduce the number of coats, simply leave more of the wiping varnish on the surface. In this video i m refinishing the fingerboard of a lovely old 1970s. If the finish isnt old and brittle, then theres a good chance it was applied wrong. By the way, the title is still available on dvd or digitally via the guild. Master the wipeon finish popular woodworking magazine.
Theres no way to tell from the label if a finish listing petroleum distillate is wiping varnish, but you can always find out by pouring a little onto the lid of the can or a nonporous. Just mix conventional varnish with an equal amount of mineral spirits. Most of the old guitars we all revere were finished with lacquerand. You can use a wiping varnish or oilvarnish blend, and as colt says, they are super easy to apply. Theres a thin crack under the guitar not far from the jack input. I have an applause ae28 electricacoustic guitar that plays pretty well, but doesnt look so great.
Combine your ingredients in a glass jar, working in a well ventilated area. In other words, dont wipe off as much of the excess. Finish cracks generally occur when you take the guitar from a cold environment to a warmer one without letting it warm up gradually. Finishing options for musical instruments luthiers. The finish was made popular in the late 1960s and early 1970s by homer formby. The pros and cons of the two most common acousticguitar finishes. When a customer orders an oil finish, i use danish oil, which is a mix of oil and varnish but i buy it prem. Guitar finishing 101 the highlighted grain stain finish. Theres tons of info on this forum on using wiping varnish, oilvarnish blends, truoil, and lacquer.
The wiping varnish thread the acoustic guitar forum. Varnish is resistant to moisture, heat and scratches. So to me it looks like a crack in the finish but im not 100% sure so i wanted to have some opinions. Wipe on varnishes dry quickly so you can finish a project faster and there will be less particles stuck on it. Dealing with a guitar finish repair using gluboost products. You wont be able to eliminate the cracks by rubbing, but. When wiping on varnish, the first thing you need to do is prepare the surface you are going to apply it on. Checking will vary according to the extremes the instrument has been through. Blend new lacquer into old lacquer with flash coats youtube. Cracks come in many lengths and form various patterns of intersecting lines that predominately run in the direction of the wood grain, brush strokes, or spray patterns. Dan erlewine demos three of his favorite finish repair tips. Theres something alluring about the finish of a vintage guitar, but we can get close.
The range of finishes available to woodworkers offers a variety of positive attributes. Gel varnish, which can also be wiped on wood, is thickened wiping varnish. A guitar s look is a major part of the statement that guitarists make to the world about themselves. Dan teaches you how to blend new lacquer with old lacquer. Make your own oilvarnish blend article may 8, 2007. It says your style is flamboyant or that its laidback. After dan repaired a crack in a gibson acoustic guitar the finish didnt look to good. Finishing a musical instrument with thinned varnish wiped on with a rag is probably the simplest way to go. With hand wiping, you get the previous coats completely flattened and level and then the final gloss on top is very thin indeed. Its almost as easy to work with as an oil finish and just about as durable as a builtup varnish.
As the name implies, the highlighted grainstain finish is a tinted transparent finish that accentuates the grain pattern of your guitar and is sealed with a clear oil finish. High end classical guitars use varnish, and nearly all violins have a varnish finish. Lacquer can be a very forgiving finish material, and if you understand its characteristics, repairing damage to a lacquered surface can be easy. The product made by thinning varnish is wiping varnish. Refinishing a fretboard using waterbased min wax wipe on poly. There are quite a few different options and each type of finish is going to offer advantages as well as shortcomings. If it then resists fingernail pressure without leaving an indent, its likely a wiping varnish. Varnish is a combination of oil and natural resins, such as rosin or amber, that provides a protective and durable guitar finish. Satin varnish for many years i offered french polish as an option on soundboards because of the widespread opinion among guitarists that this finish is the most excellent in terms of guitar sound. Some of the most common mistakes that lead to cracking include applying the finish too thick common with conversion varnish, using a hardbrittle finish over a softerflexible finish, or using the wrong finish for the job.
Alternatively, warm water with a small amount of detergent will also do a decent job. In fact most of what are commonly called oil finishes are really wiping varnish finishes. Those who have been following me for a while probably already know my affinity for wiping varnishes. Each of these finishes is nonhazardous and can be safely applied in your home with no more equipment than brushes or cotton. Increase the quantity of varnish to create a thicker film. Drying oils like linseed oil and tung oil, though not true varnishes, will cure by the. A wellapplied brushed finish is arguably better than a badlyapplied sprayed one. However, when drop filling lacquer and other finishes, the fill normally shrinks with time and a dip is still seen even after a spotless repair. Dan erlewine shows how he makes a new finish repair on a 1956 strat look as. Hello, i have set out to build my own guitar and i want the finish to be perfect. Repairing cracked lacquer varnish on doors home guides.
Finishing a musical instrument with thinned varnish wiped on with a. The secret to shopmade wiping varnish is a very simple recipe and an easytomaster application technique that adds up to the best finish you cant buy. You can take precautions to minimize it but, again, its a gibson so finish checking just kind of comes with the turf. Im just about to finish my first guitar its been a long process so far and hoped to get some advice on finishes. If you own an acoustic guitar long enough, chances are good that youll have to deal with the repair of a crack in the wood. Satin varnish handcrafted guitars paul jacobson, luthier. Unlike varnish or polyurethane, lacquer doesnt cure after. My first guitar applying the finish the tundra man.
For mandolins, people pay a premium price to get a varnish finish instead of lacquer. Using the right product to repair these issues is very important to a good end result. Unless you use cans, spraying a guitar always requires a lot of preparation, a suitable room and expensive equipment. Lacquer is basically cellulose dissolved in a solvent.
Polyurethane is not an easy type of finish to repair. Most luthiers would agree that the choice of finish has more of an impact on an acoustic instrument than an electric one, so my choice of finish was based on ease of applying rather than tone. Follow these instructions to get the guitar of your dream. There are a couple of cracks in the thick plasticy finish. Oil finishes are very easy to apply, polyurethane varnish is extremely durable, and the soft sheen of. This usually happens when the guitar is allowed to dry out, causing the two halves of the top to come unglued at the center seam. Talk about musical instrument construction, setup and repair. Thin some lacquerbase colortone pigment with naphtha and wipe it onto. A wiping varnish is nothing more than a varnish thats been diluted with mineral spirits. There is nothing worse than a nasty chip, ding or crack in your favorite guitar. The earliest varnishes were formulated from tree sap pine sap and a solvent applied by brush for a golden, glossy finish. Follow general spot repair techniques for varnish finishes the. That benefit is normally attributed to the thinness of the finish.
When sanding the existing finish on the guitar, you have two options on how you can go about on this process. Glazes and waxes attempt to fill scratches and claim to make them less noticeable. Gloss finishing of a guitar or bass can be daunting for the bedroom builder with visions of spray booths. Thinned varnish applied with a cotton cloth creates smooth quickdrying finish coats.
The finish will collect more dust nibs this way because it will take longer to dry. Finish repairs are generally done by dropfilling with thin cyanoacrylate followed by scraping with a blade edge used like. What i did while nitrocellulose finishing during the colder months is i set up a spot with a space. History of wiping varnish wiping varnish has been very popular with amateur woodworkers and refinishers for at least 35 years, but few have actually known that it was wiping varnish they were using. So you are starting with an oilvarnish blend sealacell, and top coating with a wiping varnish. The basics of wiping varnish popular woodworking magazine. Apply a thin coat of polyester spray paint to the guitar. For the guitar body itself, acetone is a good choice for wiping down the guitar, provided no paint has yet been applied.
I am thinking that the crazy glue would fill and repair the split and could be sanded and buffed out. As a result, i was hoping i could find an answer on this forum. Removing scratches from guitar finishes lacquer repair. Now at the cracked part, part of the finish is hanging and not attached to the body. I want to stay away from both bright colors and the plast. Using a wiping varnish would speed up your finish process. How to repair cracks in your acoustic guitar guitar alliance. When caring for a guitar, your first line of defense is to wipe down its neck. If you are building a guitar or refinishing an old guitar, applying the varnish is the finishing touch. The body wood on my guitar is a rich mahogany, and i plan to stain the wood a very dark red. Lubricate a sheet of 400grit wetdry sandpaper with water and rub the finish to smooth out bumps and remove other surface imperfections.
Youll know exactly what youre getting, and save a little money in the process. A lacquer finish is more brittle and prone to cracks than varnish or polyurethane, but the good news is that the cracks are repairable. It mixes easily, dries quickly, wipes on with no streaks or lap marks, and resists water very well. Repairing hairline crack in poly finish telecaster. Modern guitar finishes include linear urethane, a durable, twopart polyurethane that is easy to apply, cures fast and is relatively low in vocs.
One of the most common instances is actually not a crack at all, but a centerseam separation. In fact, the first dvd i ever made focused on my application method for wiping varnishes called a simple varnish finish. Id use lacquer for this, but there are other options like shellac, varnish, etc. It is cheaper partly because the guitar has some cracks around the neck joint due to rapid temperature change. Varnish tends to thicken and skin over when exposed to air, so it is a good idea to mix wiping varnish in small batches, store it in airtight containers, and use it up quickly. Naphtha, a mild cleaning solvent, is available in most hardware stores. The japan drier is the catalyst that makes my finish fastdrying. I like to use waterbased wipe on poly for guitar necks and maple.
Wipe on polyurethane varnish inlays and finishing chat. It gives the instrument a big part of its character and its soul. Im assuming my best bet is to remove the finish to eliminate the cracks. Repairing hairline crack in poly finish discussion in finely finished started by andrewnelles, sep 30, 2017. There is a variety of good solventbased wiping varnish products on the market, some of. Is it possible to fill with lacquer or would crazy glue work better. After an unsuccessful finish repair, this guitars owner sent it to dan erlewine to fix the damage. To identify wiping varnish, apply a few drops to a piece of glass, and then let the finish dry for a day or two. Once the guitar is clean and ready for staining i would highly recommend. And i even put a strong torchlight in a dark room to see if the light went through the guitar from the inside out but it didnt. Knowing how to evaluate the seriousness of a crack will allow you to determine whether to call a repair person immediately or whether it might be ok to leave it alone for a little while. Drop filling a scratch, leveling the fill with the surface and then buffing the instrument is another technique. How to strip a modern poly guitar finish issue 151 november 10, 2011 a heat gun is the quick way.
The perfect guitar finish finishing wood talk online. How to repair a lacquer finish home guides sf gate. Wipe the guitar with a soft tack cloth to remove the dust from the guitar. This is an extremely common, somewhat expected condition on older instruments with lacquer finishes. Guitar finishing using wiping varnish liutaio mottola lutherie. Most of the worst and hardesttorepair cracks happen on a guitars top. In this article, we thought it would be useful to look at a few of the popular options for guitar finishes and examine the strengths and weaknesses of each. Finish checking, or weather checking as it is also known, refers to the pattern of small cracks, usually comprising a series of parallel lines, but sometimes loosely checkered, that can appear on certain guitars with nitrocellulose finishes.
The resulting runny mixture can be applied with nothing more than a clean rag. To get an even faster build, brush the wiping varnish and leave it just as you would fullstrength varnish. Geoff, the owner of this fender jazz bass, says it plays fine but i dont really like the color. It doesnt seem like there are any cracks in the wood itself, just the clear finish. The disadvantages of varnish are that it is more laborintensive and timeconsuming to apply takes a long time for it to cure, and it isnt as durable as lacquer. Its a good idea to know a bit about your guitars finish so you can better maintain it. To highlight the cracks, the body was wiped over with colron dark oak. Guitar finishing using wiping varnish liutaio mottola. As the term varnish applies to a broad variety of finishes, we will try to stick to traditional definitions. Finish crack question gibson acoustic gibson brands forums. The simple concept behind lacquer finishes is the even application of a resin. Online extra pick up a quart ofvarnish and paint thinner and youll have the ingredients you need to blend a batch of wiping varnish. However, it may require you to apply several coats before offering full protection for your furniture.
633 305 466 297 1295 375 431 305 982 167 81 6 466 654 36 1251 1115 115 1053 1042 260 1210 966 635 873 722 450 1166 107 597 782 1099 214 961 741 1064 431 162 975 747 883 1447 109