Official Luthiers Forum!

There was a recent thread about finishing in high humidity but I have new information specific to Behlen Mohawk products.

I talked with Phillip at Mohawk yesterday about blush eraser. They sell blush eraser in an aerosol can but I wanted to make my own because I've heard it's just thinner with retarder which I tried with horrible results. He said that to get close, you could mix the retarder with MAK (not MEK!) in a 1:1 ratio. I tried to find MAK but couldn't so I'l be buying some aerosol from Woodcraft. He also said you could mix the retarder with their Flash Off Control Solvent but I didn't write down the ratio.

We then talked about their Stringed Instrument lacquer. He said you can spray it un-thinned and it's not overly susceptible to blushing, which a lot of members here already know.

Last, we also talked about their retarder. The directions on the retarder are confusing. They make it look like you add 5-10% retarder to your thinner - i.e. 100 ml of thinner add 5-10 ml retarder which is not the case per Phillip. He said add 5-10% retarder to your lacquer, 100 ml lacquer, add 5 -10 ml retarder.

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.

Phil at Mohawk told me to mix the retarder into the reducer at a ratio of 10:100 as a starting point. But that's predicated on using less reducer than I do. I found it retarded the drying time more than I'd like.

Only use the minimum amount of retarder required to inhibit premature skinning which traps volatiles. This looks like millions of pinpoint bubbles evenly spaced throughout the film. I found that a 5:100 ratio of retarder:reducer mixed into roughly a 25:100 ratio of retarder/reducer:lacquer worked very well through a cheap hvlp gun. I have to work pretty hard to screw it up now. I can level and polish in two to three weeks. I've never seen blush.

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I read Emerson on the can. A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds...true...but a consistent reading of Emerson has its uses nevertheless.

StuMusic