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I just bought a buffer set-up, it works fantastic. My question is, I get a beautiful shine, I can see myself in it nice and clear but at the right light angle it doesn't have the clarity that I am looking for , it looks kind of hazy. I used the medium Menzerna and then the fine, am I not charging the buffing wheels enough or am I not buffing it long enough? I would appreciate any advice you could give me. Thanks

Mark,
Congrats on the new tool.

As with most things in this world, there's a learning curve.

You'll get it figured out.

But if you want a place to start tracking down your source of haze, you probably have some areas that didn't get COMPLETELY cured of the 2nd to last grit of sandpaper you used when you leveled.

If it was me (and I just did this today) I'd go back and resand those areas with a couple levels of grit and then buff them out again. That is probably the safest way. You really don't want dwell on any area for any length of time or you run the risk of burning through the finish.

(all of this advice is based on the assumption that you're buffing lacquer)

Good luck,

Dave

I just love new tools.

Yea I should have said that this is a nitro finish. I sanded up to 1000 grit. Stew-Mac said to sand to between 800 to 1200 and then use the medium compound. That's what I did. The haze is all over the guitar. Tomorrow i'll have to try resanding it.

You may be missing a few of the final steps. I will use swirl remover and gloss enhancer. I also use 2 different diameter buffers . That way I can use them and buff at different speeds without changing belts.
There are a lot of little tricks you will learn. Keep a log of what you are doing so you can see if a pattern develops

_________________
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

I tried Meguires swirl remover and Meguires no 7, It didn't change the apperance. What type do you use?

Mark,

I find I have to go to 2000 before buffing with medium. At least go to 1500. You can give it a shine without fully taking out all the previous scratches. Look at it REAL carefully at a glancing angle to see if you see scratches. Try to look only at the surface of the finish and not through the finish. Sunlight or halogen light is best. It can be real hard to see RO scratches or straight scratches with the grain of the wood, but I bet they are there. Sometimes I will intentionally make my last sanding across the grain, so I can see when they are gone when buffing. Sometimes it's hard to see if you removed the previous scratch until you get to the final stage. It's also possible that you have even deeper scratches from prior grits.

Definitely charge your buffs often, but you only need to do so for a couple of seconds. What kind of buffs are you using? I use a cotton bias airway buff (pretty firm) for the medium and a flannel airway buff for the fine. I found that I had a hard time removing the sanding scratches with medium on a flannel buff. I do use urethane so my finish may be harder to buff. The airway buffs really help keep things cool. What size are your buffs? The larger the better. I use 14 inch buffs.

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Randy Muth
RS Muth Guitars Website
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The buffer set-up that I have is the stew-mac one, the buffs are canton-weave cotton 14' dia.

I sand up to 2000 then buff with fine then extra fine menzerna.Works for me.No need for medium buff if you go to 2000 grit and should eliminate your hase problem.

It goes to show that it is a complex combination of the type of finish used, the buffs used, the compound used, etc. Also depending on the finish, the cure time before buffing. Basically you have to experiment to come up with a finishing schedule that works for you. Just be sure to carefully inspect the surface of the finish between stages.

_________________
Randy Muth
RS Muth Guitars Website
RS Muth Guitars Blog
Facebook Fan Page

I feel exactly the same. If it's any consolation, it took me about 13 guitars before I was happy (enough) with my finishing.

_________________
Alain Moisan
Former full time builder of Acoustics, Classicals and Flamencos.
(Now building just for fun!)