Official Luthiers Forum!

Steve, the KTM-9 bubbled up, not KTM-SV. Two very different finishes. Don't through the baby out with the bath water.

_________________
Randy Muth
RS Muth Guitars Website
RS Muth Guitars Blog
Facebook Fan Page

That should be "throw" not "through".

_________________
Randy Muth
RS Muth Guitars Website
RS Muth Guitars Blog
Facebook Fan Page

I got the blue haze on the last guitar I did with EM6000. It was a stained mahogany so it showed pretty easy. I used it on a previous guitar and it was much lighter wood and is holding up fine. This last one though has some checking in it on the back, very dissapointing. I will probably go back to Nitro for the next one just to make sure.

Mark

_________________
Wisdom is justified by her children

Mark,

Yup, blue haze with any acrylic containing product including EM6000. No blue haze with KTM-SV.

_________________
Randy Muth
RS Muth Guitars Website
RS Muth Guitars Blog
Facebook Fan Page

I had the same problem with KTM-9. Something in certain people's perspiration reacted with the finish. Hopefully the new stuff won't do this.

I finished my last build with Target's Hybrivar, which gave a beautiful amber varnish-like tone without any hint of blue. It was a bear to spray, though- but any new product has a learning curve.

_________________
It's not the miles ahead, it's the stone in your shoe


In Markham,Virginia

Jon, I used Hybrivar before switching to KTM-SV. You are right it was a bear and I kept getting mysterious fisheyes. KTM-SV is in the same class as Hybrivar, but behaves much better. It is the product that Hybrivar wishes to be.

_________________
Randy Muth
RS Muth Guitars Website
RS Muth Guitars Blog
Facebook Fan Page

Jon, I should mention that I sprayed about a half dozen guitars with Hybivar and could never get it to work satisfactorily. The KTM-SV is not as amber out of the can, but it has no blue cast and dries harder than Hybrivar.

_________________
Randy Muth
RS Muth Guitars Website
RS Muth Guitars Blog
Facebook Fan Page

forgive me if this was discussed, but did anyone mention anything about brushing on the KTM-SV? i know this is quite archaic, but its all ive got at the moment. i brushed KTM9 on my first and it turned out decent, it just took a lot of work. does anyone have any experience brushing the former? finishing schedule? foresee any pitfalls? thanks.

_________________
sweat the small stuff.

Heath, I have not brushed it, but according to the Grafted Coatings website, it can be brushed. I don't see any reason why not. Of course a very good brush and brushing technique (flow out, tipping off, etc.) goes a long way in providing a level finish. If your experienced in brushing varnish that's great, if not, you might want to read some articles or books on it and practice.

_________________
Randy Muth
RS Muth Guitars Website
RS Muth Guitars Blog
Facebook Fan Page

randy, thanks for weighing in once more. my brushing technique could definitely use some help, so ill look to improve there. i had the best results with a cheap foam brush when brushing the KTM9. i was using a $20 or so brush from home depot prior and it just wasnt getting the job done. anyway, thanks again for your input. i know you took a lot of time sharing your experience and knowledge about the KTM-SV product. im definitely going to give it a try my next go around.

_________________
sweat the small stuff.

Heath, a good place for information and finishing products is http://www.homesteadfinishingproducts.com. Be sure to check out their forum. I wouldn't think a foam brush would be very good. Also, home depot is probably not the best place to get a brush. Different types of bristles are used for different types of finishes. Typically natural hair brushes are used for oil based finishes and synthetic brushes are used for waterborne. Ironically, I found that a very fine china bristle brush is pretty good with KTM-SV and I didn't like the nylon brushes. The best bet however is a golden taklon brush. Homestead sells these, but good brushes are not cheap. The idea is that if you take care of them, they will last forever. Also, you can call Jeff at Homestead, he is very helpful.

_________________
Randy Muth
RS Muth Guitars Website
RS Muth Guitars Blog
Facebook Fan Page

There are SO many threads on EM 6000 and the rest! Anyways, there is no doubt about the blue haze with dark woods and EM 6000. Like Randy said, it has acrylic in it... so it will have a "blue haze". But I do like the burn in with EM6000. And once buffed, it has an incredible feel. That said, I am ordering some KTM-SV and following Randy's schedule.

Randy, I am sure I asked this before, but what pore fill do you use (if any)?

Mike

Mike, I look forward to hearing your results. Due respect to Randy, but I'd love to the opinions of others using it too! (My Ultima's all gone, so I have to get something.... one foot in the air to try SV, but the scarcity of feed back & the comments of lack of tintabiliy have me a bit reluctant.)

_________________
Dave
Milton, ON

Mike,

I use System 3 epoxy (SB112). This has worked well for me, although I am intrigued by the possibility of using CA.

Dave,

I understand where you're coming from. Rolf Gerhardt of Phoenix Mandolins, and current Treasurer of A.S.I.A., has a little more experience with KTM-SV than I do. He has posted his schedule and observations on his website. By the way, KTM-SV can be tinted easily with Transtint dyes. Rolf and I have both done this and it works fine.

_________________
Randy Muth
RS Muth Guitars Website
RS Muth Guitars Blog
Facebook Fan Page

Thanks Randy. Where did I see the comment that transtints weren't compatible with SV.... maybe Rolfs notes?? I'll dig again.

Yep..."KTM-SV does not mix easily with TransTint dyes. With some vigorous stirring, it is possible to mix a few drops of amber tint into KTM-SV, but that’s all. To get my dark shading mix, I mix the concentrated TransTint dyes into the shellac"

Can you confirm or deny??

_________________
Dave
Milton, ON

Dave, I used the method Rolf described in his Guitarmaker article where he premixed the Transtint with water before adding it to KTM-SV. That worked just fine. I was only adding a couple of drops to amber the finish so I can't speak to getting darker colors. I suppose that's a problem.

_________________
Randy Muth
RS Muth Guitars Website
RS Muth Guitars Blog
Facebook Fan Page