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Hey all,
I'm at the point where I'm REALLY tired. REALLY REALLY tired. At least one of my arms is.

This is build # 20 and I gotta believe there's an easier way to get from final spray to a beautiful high gloss.

My method is to hand rub out the finish from 600, 1000, 1500, 2000 etc... then buff.
I alternate directions from grit to grit so I know when I've got all of the previous grit's scratches out.

But recently I purchased a set of micromesh ROS pads that run the same regressive abrasiveness. However, I'm scared to try to see how fast I can burn through a beautiful finish.


Does anyone have a method that might make the final stages of the build go faster?

Thanks,

Dave

ROS for me.
3m 30 mic, 15mic, then medium menzerna, then fine. I sand dry btw...

I use an arbor buffer , and depending on your technique and paper used , I do prefer wet sanding, this floats out the solids and you won't build up heat. I sand to at least 1500 before starting to buff then I use #16 and #18 mezzerna then swirl remover and then hand glaze

_________________
John Hall
blues creek guitars
Authorized CF Martin Repair
Co President of ASIA
You Don't know what you don't know until you know it

Thanks for the responses.


You seriously just start buffing after 1500?

I too wet sand and use the buffer, but I go up through about 3500-4000 on the grits before hitting the arbor.

If that really works, I'm all about it and will try tonight!


Thanks for the tip.

Dave

Call me lazy, but I never used more than two grits of sandpaper before buffing out by hand.
I never spent more than a day on a guitar.

Think about it... when they were painting cars with lacquer, did they go through a whole slew of grits before buffing? NO. It would have taken DAYS!

Get it level and smooth, then buff 'til it shines like the dickens!

_________________
"Act your age, not your shoe size" - Prince

The last guitar I did (this one: viewtopic.php?f=10123&t=36559 ) I just leveled with 1500 grit with my ROS, then buffed. These are the discs I'm using:

http://www.abrasivesupply.com/Carbo_Pre ... /20291.htm

Worked great!

_________________
Regards,
Phillip Patton

http://www.pattonblades.com

The bitterness of poor quality lingers long after the sweetness of low price has faded.

https://hoosierbladesmith.wordpress.com

I sand to 1500. There is no need to go higher because my compound removes the scratches left by 1200 grit or higher. Menzerna medium if memory serves, will remove scratches from 800 grit. If you sand a lot higher you are going backwards by using medium menzerna.

_________________
http://www.CostaGuitars.com
PMoMC

I sand out at 1200 using a small cork lined block and a few drops of olive oil. final polishing is done with Novus #2 and a felt block. Fairly quick, not to tiring. The felt block makes all the difference in the world.

_________________
Brian

You never know what you are capable of until you actually try.

https://www.howardguitarsdelaware.com/

ROS with vac attached using Joest brand perferated velcro disks. 600 through 2000 then menzerna course/medium/fine. I have a serious bad shoulder so hand sanding is avoided as much as I can.

_________________
Fred Tellier
http://www.fetellierguitars.com
Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/pages/FE-Tellier-Guitars/163451547003866

I used these super pads with great results on a craftsman professional variable speed ROS , using grits 800 , 1200 , 1500 , and 2000...
https://www.supergrit.com/products/prod ... erpads.asp

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MK5acoustics.com

I buff after hand sanding with 800. I don't like sanding, but I don't like to buff too much either. I have found that this method is the most time efficient for me.
For buffing, I use 3M Finesse-It II and an 8" lamb's wool buffer. I remove swirl marks with hand glaze.
To monitor the scratches, I linear sand with the grain, buff across the grain, and hand glaze with the grain.
It usually takes me about 2 1/2 to 3 hours to do the process on a dreadnought.

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John

That's a nice looking finish. What ROS do you have?

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Ken

Thanks! I have a 5" dia. non-vacuum Dynorbital-Spirit random orbital sander.

_________________
Regards,
Phillip Patton

http://www.pattonblades.com

The bitterness of poor quality lingers long after the sweetness of low price has faded.

https://hoosierbladesmith.wordpress.com

Another option over the fancy disks is an old fashioned pad sander, like the Dynabrade Model T. You can use regular wet or dry on that, without electrocuting yourself (always a bonus!)

Hey John, What kind of buffer do you use with the Lambs wool buff?

I use a Makita 6404 3/8" variable speed drill. I am a longtime believer in lamb's wool...I just like the 'grab' it imparts. But until I discovered the 8" 3M Superbuff at the auto paint store, I was constantly having to wash out the buffer to keep from loading up and burning the lacquer. The other big advantage with the Superbuff is that it is double-sided, with a good flexible edge that never digs in. The combination of the Superbuff and the Finesse-It is ideal (IMHO), and I can go a long time (several guitars) before having to wash it out and start over.
I fabricated a 3/8" arbor to screw on the buffing wheel, so I could chuck it in the drill.
I gave up using different grits of buffing compound because I was constantly fighting contamination.

_________________
John

For leveling (sanding) I use a ROS for the wide flat places and hand sand the edges with a block. Even when buffing with a low speed ROS I try to avoid wrapping the buffing pad around an edge. I would rather do a little hand sanding and hand buffing than have to respray an edge (still get there, still do that, occasionally ) .

At the recommendation of several posters, I decided to try the level-by-hand-thru-two-grits-then-buff-method.

Worked great!

Until the buffer grabbed the guitar and sent it flying out past the cushions I had under it.
It's not like I'm new to this, it was just an honest mistake.

But dang it made me mad.

Fortunately there were only dings on the binding and I was able to sand them out and drop fill. Waiting to re-level those areas for a few days.

Dang!!! @@#$$%%^^&**())_

Dave

I start leveling at 800G, going through to 1000, 1200 and (if I have any) 1500. That's with a brushed on Spirit finish. I hand polish with a burnishing cream intended for French polish finishes. It doesn't take that long, even without a ROS or buffer.

That's exactly why I do it by hand with a felt block. Having that happen once is once too often for me.

_________________
Brian

You never know what you are capable of until you actually try.

https://www.howardguitarsdelaware.com/

Wow, it seems like a lot of people are spending an extraordinary amount of time sanding. Thats great! However, i think it might be worth examining the buffing technique. I personally don't like sanding, and it gets a little pricey to buy all the different grits. I wet sand starting with 400 grit, sanding in circles, and graduate to 600 grit sanding in circles. Then for the back and sides I move up to 800 grit sanding with the direction of the grain, then stop. For the top I sand 800 and then a 1000 sanding with the grain, then stop. Then i buff. I spend a decent amount of time buffing. If there's any part of the build that i pay extra attention to it's the finish. To me, there's nothing that bums me out more than to see all the hard and dedicated time spent building the instrument and see the finish get rushed.
Here's one i just finished sanding and buffing out a couple days ago.
[img][/img]
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http://www.joshwilliamsguitars.com

I am a bit confused here. What is it that the initial compound and buff are meant to be doing for those of you who are sanding past 800 grit??

Cheers

Kim