Fun With Lacquer.

For those of you new to my blog, I'll give you a little info: I play with lacquer.
I really shouldn't say play tho'... It's hard work.
Finishing guitar necks to the discerning specs of guitar builders, I glop, mix, spray and clean up lacquer of several types and tints.
There's satin, the stuff that had particles that make it more opaque, clog up guns, and generally looks like mold floating in stale water, there's clear lacquer: the easiest to deal with, and there's tinted lacquer - that tortures me with it's complexities of shading and coloring.

I started out trying to mix poly. That's polyurethane for short. It's cheap, supposedly easy to work with, and is extremely durable. Problem? It varies in color from manufacturer to manufacturer, never takes tint the same way twice, takes days (dare I say weeks) to dry, and requires only the toughest of muscles to sand it out.
I gave up on poly. Sure, the rub-on stuff is fun. A few coats of it can sometimes bring a piece of wood to life. As for the rest of it - the spray, the brush-on: forget them. They suck! I really mean that. It's a total waste of time when it comes to guitars.


Lacquer, on the other hand: takes tint like a dream, cleans up with the seemingly magical lacquer thinner, can be melted using Blush Remover, and sands quickly and easily if you haven't made any glaring mistakes.
Lacquer can also be thinned to any consistency, thickened by evaporation for drop fills, and polishes to a near crystal sheen.

One of my favorite parts of the lacquering process is seeing a piece of wood come to life! The grain stands out, the wood takes on a sort of amber stone feel - like a lovely, well polished quartz pebble that came from a sweet mountain spring.

One of the things I hate the most is dripping. Say you've just started to spray in the morning. Your first spray will undoubtedly be the sloppiest. Your caffeine hasn't kicked in, and your mind is still slow. Oops! You sprayed to close, now what do you do? There's a horrific glob forming - quick! tilt your wood! Try to minimize it! Wipe it off, FAST! Now cry as you realize that you just wiped off three coats on one spot, ruining yesterday's work. Alas!


So then you wait for it to dry, srape it with a razor, and sand out your mistake. Then you respray to fill your imperfections, sand again, respray, sand again, and respray.
Or...you could sand it and apply Blush Remover, effectively melting the what's left of the blob right back into the surface coat. Ahhhh...nightmare destroyed!
Thank God for Blush Remover. For that matter, a little q-tip dipped in lacquer remover can work wonders too, melting the surface and making the lacquer gloppy again. But be careful - the q-tip must remain full of remover the whole time it's in contact with the surface, or you'll drag the finish. I love lacquer remover for little fix-ups. Just remember - let it dry a long time after that - the lacquer remover works a little like a retarder, and makes the finish gloppy for a few days, depending upon the humidity.

So now you know what I play with all day. What fun!