Is catalyzed urethane ok for guitars?

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Thanks so much for all the videos!!  I've learned so much from you while building my first guitar.  I had a quick question on clear coating.  My plan is to do the zpoxy thing over mahogany and tint the clear. I have some experience using PPG automotive clear and wondered if it's ok to use on a guitar or is it best to use a clear designed for  guitars?  I'm guessing the car stuff would dry faster?

Yep! Catalyzed urethanes are fantastic for this sort of thing. I use 'em, too. Shoot 2-3 coats of clear, sand flat with 600 grit the next day, and shoot about 3 more coats. 


Ok to add more clear coats?

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Hey Sully I have a question here about clear coating, I built a guitar from scratch just recently and I’m just waiting for the bridge to arrive in the mail. I put on about 8 coats of clear coat, now here’s my question;  if I don’t think it’s clear coated(shiny) enough, could I just take the neck and pickup out and put on a few more layers? Or should I sand it down lightly first with like an 800 grit sandpaper?

 

Hey there,

The gloss of a finish comes to life after wet sanding it flat and then buffing it to its final shine. If you shot it with lacquer, the general rule is to have around 9 coats on there at minimum (three coats of clear shot three hours apart for three days).  So if you shot lacquer, you can reshoot it and the lacquer will melt into what’s on there now (If you shot a catalyzed, two part urethane clear, they don’t melt into each other). If you decide to add some more coats, you can scuff sand it with 600 and reshoot. The other thing I’d like to point out, assuming you shot lacquer, is to give it at least 4-6 weeks of curing time before you think of wet sanding and buffing it out. Fight all urges to complete it, and give it the time it needs to cure. It may look like you’ve got a ton of clear on it right now, but the finish will gas off over time and shrink. While it might look great the next day, if one was to sand and buff it out and move to assembly, it wouldn’t be uncommon for what’s left of the clear to sink into the wood. When it stops smelling like paint, you’re usually okay to start sanding and buffing.

Satin finish -> Gloss finish?

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Hello, can you please give me some advice on making a satin finish form 100% shiny finish. I´d like that on one of my guitars. Tried to carefuly sand the back side a bit with very soft grit, and it is quite good. But you can see some patterns here and there cause my hand pressure isnt the same all the time. Do you have any other way how to do this? Cause I want the front side to look good.

 There is an agent added to the clear coat that gives it the satin finish, so while you can buff it out to a shine, it won’t be quite as shiny as a gloss finish. If you have sanded the finish, make sure you’re using a sanding block and let the sandpaper do the work; although if it was a factory satin finish, you probably could have just buffed it to a shine. 

Z-poxy on Alder?

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Big fan of your work, thanks for sharing so much. Have yet another z-poxy question, as I am getting all sorts of different answers on the google. I am finishing a guitar for the first time, was planning on white primer then lake placid blue then clear, all laquer. It is an alder body. Can I use z-poxy as both filler and sealer, then spray my laquer? Some people claim adhesion issues, others not. I have also attempted to turn the guitar blue by pure force of will, but staring at it really hard has also not worked...

So here's the good news; Alder does not require grain filling. That means no Z-Poxy needed. Sand it to 320, shoot your sealer, then your primer (even though they kinda achieve the same thing), then color and clear. 

Now exhale.  It's gonna be okay.