Official Luthiers Forum!

I think it was a year or two ago, during a thread about Behlen's Rockard Tabletop Varnish, that someone here (I think) mentioned wiping on the last coat or two to cover witness lines. I've searched but can't come up what I thought I'd remembered. Anybody remember who it was? Or what the schedule was?

Pat

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formerly known around here as burbank
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http://www.patfosterguitars.com

Hi Pat, there are several threads over on Mandolin Cafe about varnish finishes, also current ones. John Hamlett (aka 'Spruce' over there) I believe wipes on True Oil over the last coat of Rockhard to avoid witness lines, others of course use shellac. I don't think I've seen anyone mentioning doing exactly what you describe, though.

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Rian Gitar og Mandolin

I don't know of the thread that you mention. I know Alan Carruth
has quite a bit of experience with Rockhard varnish. a very good
violin maker I know of suggests 'slowing it down' with kerosene,
but this also slows down drying. ymmv...

Could this be it. browse down to Alan Carruth
http://luthiersforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=10101&t=21745&p=300825&hilit=rock+hard#p300825

Pat,

Laurent Brondel has posted that he can get witness lines to disappear during buffing. I just finished a guitar with Behlen's for the first time and was able to do it too. I have no idea why it works. I did wait 3 weeks before buffing.

- Flori

I tried doing about 3 coats on my Ditson that way.... Bad results. May have been because of technique or may have been because I was trying to use it straight (no reducer)

What I settled on was brushing using a foam brush and Al Carruth's Rock Hard recipe of 25% rockhard reducer, 5-10% acetone and 1-2 drops kerosene per quart. Drying time is long, so a dust free environment is key. Otherwise, this mixture levels very nicely.

Dealing with witness lines.... the only thing I have found that consistently works for me is to do 1-panel all the way to the edge. That way, any witness lines are on an edge where your eye already sees a break in the pattern....

Good luck with yours.

John

Thanks, gentlemen. Perhaps I saw wiping Behlen's top coats on another forum.

Pat

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formerly known around here as burbank
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http://www.patfosterguitars.com