Saturday, November 11, 2006
Finish Sanding and Rubbing Out
Ok, the spraying is done. I used three cans of gloss clear coat and a bit of satin clear coat for the back of the headstock. Now it's time for the final sanding (Ugh).
I soaked several grits of wet sandpaper in water for several hours. The idea is to spend as much time as possible with the coarse grits to save time with the finer grits. However, I went the cautious route and spent most of my time (and effort) with the finer grits. At first the finish became cloudy but the finer grades started to bring out the shine. I rinsed the paper often and tried to keep the water out of the unpainted holes where it could swell the wood and crack the finish.
Rubbing out is just the insiders way of saying polishing. As per the suggestions at the Guitar ReRanch I used 3M Finesse-It II for rubbing out. It recommends using a machine, but Mark Power would have to do. Now I'll be able to see if all of this effort has paid off.
After another half hour or so of rubbing (my arms were aching at this point) the body and headstock were shining like a mirror. I know it just looks like an orange guitar in the pictures but they can't convey the subtlety of the way the light plays with the grain. There is even more depth and glow than I had expected.
Tips:
I soaked several grits of wet sandpaper in water for several hours. The idea is to spend as much time as possible with the coarse grits to save time with the finer grits. However, I went the cautious route and spent most of my time (and effort) with the finer grits. At first the finish became cloudy but the finer grades started to bring out the shine. I rinsed the paper often and tried to keep the water out of the unpainted holes where it could swell the wood and crack the finish.
Rubbing out is just the insiders way of saying polishing. As per the suggestions at the Guitar ReRanch I used 3M Finesse-It II for rubbing out. It recommends using a machine, but Mark Power would have to do. Now I'll be able to see if all of this effort has paid off.
After another half hour or so of rubbing (my arms were aching at this point) the body and headstock were shining like a mirror. I know it just looks like an orange guitar in the pictures but they can't convey the subtlety of the way the light plays with the grain. There is even more depth and glow than I had expected.
Tips:
- Take your time. Rushing here would only mess up weeks of work.
- Sanding is just to get the finish ready for polishing -- don't worry about shine until the last step.
- Be wary of sanding the edges! Even very fine grits can get through all those clear coats (trust me).
# posted by Mark : Saturday, November 11, 2006
