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I am getting mentally geared up for my first spray finish job. I am not quite certain on how to mask off areas properly. Here is what I need to know:

When you mask off the bridge/fingerboard extension area, I assume you spray over it and buff over it and then peal it off correct?

How do you mask off your sound hole? (pictures please)

How do you mask off your sound ports? (pictures please)

How do you approach masking off the neck (insides) and fingerboard? (pictures please)
With this I mean do you put excess tape on and use a razor to cut it back, or do you carefully mask it of right to the edges?

Thanks in advance for all the advice.

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There's alot of ways to go about it. Alot of finishers/builders don't mask for the bridge, but scrape, or route the finish off afterwards. I do this sometimes (if I haven't made the bridge before starting the finish) but usually mask it off. I'm not a fan of using masking tape though. IMHO masking tape is too thick. The finish will build up around the tape, leaving it thicker around the bridge. I prefer a finish that's uniform in thickness. I mask for the bridge with frisket film. I use "extra tack" which is only .001" thick. http://www.grafixarts.com/product/Frisket_Film I put the mask on the top, and trim around the bridge with a sharp knife. After finishing, and buffing you'll need to cut around the mask to remove it. Be sure and scrape the top where the bridge glues, reguardless of how you mask it.

To mask a sound port I just use masking tape (I've got some that's 3" wide). I mask it from the inside, through the soundhole. FOr the soundhole I've got a cover made from plexiglass I bought on ebay. It's really easy to install. (Pictures later). I've also used balloons stuck in the soundhole, or use masking tape, on the inside. You can mask each side by sticking your hand inside, the put a small piece in the center, on top of the side pieces from the outside.

For the neck, I just tape it up. I suppose trimming with a razor would work, but it isn't hard to apply the tape correctly.

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I didn't mean to say it, but I meant what I said.
http://www.brackettinstruments.com/

I'm in the middle of this one. Big ball of newspaper isn't bad.

A balloon in the soundhole works well too. And it's easy to get out, just pop it.

I have tried a few methods of soundhole masking. The best I have tried uses a block of foam mattress material, 4" thick & cut square, a bit bigger than the soundhole. I stuff the foam through the hole & put a bristol board (Like greeting card paper stock) disc on top of the foam. On most guitars, the foam holds the paper firmly against the underside of the soundhole.
During the spray process, I can remove the disc & check the film thickness with a micrometer.

Woody....do you use the low tack or extra tack Frisket film?

If you're spraying solvent based lacquer, be sure to use the green masking tape that's specifically designed for lacquer. The solvents in the lacquer will react with the adhesive on other types of tape DAMHIKT.

For the soundhole, I just shoved newspaper in it. Martin puts a deli cup (like what they sell potato salad in) in the sound hole with a piece of foam under it to hold it in place. You can see it in one of the Martin factory videos on Youtube, not the Dick Boak videos but one of the others.

Kevin Looker

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I'm not a luthier.
I'm just a guy who builds guitars in his basement.
It's better than playing golf.

Woody said, " I use "extra tack" which is only .001" thick. http://www.grafixarts.com/product/Frisket_Film "

I use the extra tack because it's only .001" thick. The other versions are thicker.

_________________
I didn't mean to say it, but I meant what I said.
http://www.brackettinstruments.com/

I was using 3M blue (regular, not delicate) with Deft rattle cans & the edges of the tape got funky after spraying Deft sanding sealer & gloss lacquer. The tape started coming off on the edges. This was on the edge of a fingerboard where the edge of the tape was getting a direct hit with the lacquer. Maybe Deft adds some special ingedients to their rattle can products.

Anyhow, I'm not going to use Deft on the next one because I've heard it's too brittle anyhow.

Kevin Looker

_________________
I'm not a luthier.
I'm just a guy who builds guitars in his basement.
It's better than playing golf.

Paper bowls cut to size for soundholes, wide masking tape from the inside for sideports. Thin blue 3M tape for fretboard, I do not mask for the bridge.

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Laurent Brondel
West Paris, Maine - USA
http://www.laurentbrondel.com/

Sorry...

I was waiting for someone to do that.

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"Preoccupation with an effect gives it power and enhances the error"
from "Your Owner's Manual" by Burt Hotchkiss.