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Morning

I'm about to pull the trigger on some of this stuff so I can start doing some testing. I'm really sick of the blue cast that I see in full sun on dark wood with the EM. The Crytalac supposedly doesn't suffer from this problem.

It's way more expensive than the EM6000 which is about $75 a gallon with shipping. The Crytalac is $45 for a quart, $20 a pint of sanding sealer, and $10 to get it here.

I tried two different water born finishes. I liked Crystalac. But- was hard for me to lay down a smooth coat. Also battled fisheye a lot. And I will caution not to over sand any areas on light colored woods as they add a toner to this finish. I like the very good durability of the finish after it fully cures. Give it plenty of time before you final sand and buff. Also it will chemically bind with previous coats very well. I went back to nitro.
I decided the challenges were more than I was willing to take on.


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"It is easier to fool a man, than it is to convince him that he has been fooled"
Mark Twain

I am super new to finishing, and really luthiery in general. I decided since I was new to spraying any kind of finish I might as well learn with something that is a little more environmentally friendly than some of the other options, and I'd heard good things about Brite-tone. Anyway as others on this forum may attest when it comes to spraying my learning curve has been steep, and trying to figure out waterborn lacquer with a compressor that is slightly too small, a dusty garage, and the impatience of a beginner has been an adventure to say the least.

So my two cents, with spraying I found it very difficult to find the happy spot between too wet and too dry, it was all globs of orange peel, or drips for me. This of course speaks more to my ability than the product. What I have loved about it though is how forgiving it is to brush on. I was stubbornly trying to use the expensive spray gun I bought because I thought that's just what you're supposed to do. Once I came to grips with the fact that maybe I was fighting an uphill battle in my spraying situation, and that I should try brushing it on, I started having fun and making some progress.

As a clear I find the lacquer looks gorgeous. I've done a few different black things and haven't noticed the blueish haze. The only times I've noticed witness lines was sanding some imperfections in a black color coat, it looked like water stains all over it when sunlight hit it, but that hasn't been a problem with a sufficiently thick clear coat. Wet sanding with water didn't really work for me, if I let the stuff cure longer than the suggested time maybe it would be okay, but wet sanding with mineral spirits seems to be fine.

Also I love that I can set myself up in my shop/lesson studio, brush a coat on and the fumes are hardly noticeable, no light headedness.

How many guitars can you finish with a quart of those materials ( Em6000 and Crystalac) and how much sealer also? I use about a quart of nitro per guitar ($9) and a couple of ounces of epoxy ($2). I've heard that waterbourne goes a lot farther but never had any quantitative information.
There are some things that make me want to try it sometime, but I always try to keep costs in mind. Nitro is easy and still somewhat available, and being in the semi boonies I don't have to worry about neighbors. But things change, so it would be nice to be familiar with these other products.

I tried it on 2 guitars and gave away the second quart I had. It is as stated above difficult to get a nice spray mixture and will not do a touchup on a buff through so requires a full recoating of the area. I aim for a thin finish and seem to get the odd rub/buff through which with nitro lacquer is a easy touch up. I could live with it if I sprayed a thicker finish but it also though looking great after buffing after a few months the finish shrinks back and looses the smooth look. I have sprayed over 40 instruments and the Brite tone is not up to my standards and not worth the trouble to use it.

Fred

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

I tried it on 2 guitars and gave away the second quart I had. It is as stated above difficult to get a nice spray mixture and will not do a touchup on a buff through so requires a full recoating of the area. I aim for a thin finish and seem to get the odd rub/buff through which with nitro lacquer is a easy touch up. I could live with it if I sprayed a thicker finish but it also though looking great after buffing after a few months the finish shrinks back and looses the smooth look. I have sprayed over 40 instruments and the Brite tone is not up to my standards and not worth the trouble to use it.

Fred

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

Very good report Fred. I like to try new finishes but have not tried Brite Tone. Sounds as if I've missed some aggravation.

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Joe Beaver
Maker of Sawdust