Refinishing help

tasty · Post by **tasty** » Sun Jun 12, 2005 1:16 am

Ok...

What advantages are there in using an airbrush witha compressor instead of just spray cans?
Whats the best stripping method? chemical?heat ? or plain sandpaper?
What other tools do i need other than paint and sandpaper/heatgun?

cheers,
JLoo

ash · Post by **ash** » Sun Jun 12, 2005 11:09 am

There is really no place where an airbrush is useful on a guitar, except maybe fine line graphics. Airbrushes don't put out nearly enough paint and the finish will end up looking streaky. The best device is one of those automotive touchup guns, but they need some serious compressor power to run them.

For one-off jobs you should stick with spray cans. I know of one semi pro builder who still does all his finishing with spray cans alone.

Always use acrylic lacquer paint mixed to your requirements at a panelbeater's supply place. LJ Smit, Panel Beater's Supplies, Wairau Paint Supplies and Colourworks and the best places in Auckland to get that done.

You need to get a can of primer, a can of colour and a can of gloss clear to do a guitar. You also need sandpaper to prepare and then to polish afterwards.

If you want to strip to bare wood, don't use chemicals. None will work on an Ibanez finish anyway. Use sandpaper and a heatgun if you already have one. Sandpaper is foolproof, heatgun is messy and still needs sandpaper. Wear breathing protection at all stages. Get one of those grey 3M carbon masks, it works ok for the spraying too.

If you're stripping the old paint off, you'll need to go through 120, 180, 240 grits and then grain filling and sealing with the primer can. If you're just painting over the existing paint or primer, skip that.
Sand with 320 and 400 grit to prepare for the colour coats. You can use garnet or dry lube paper for all this, but you can use wet/dry to avoid any issues with adhesion later on.

Sand the 3rd colour coat with 600 w/d and the final coat. Then do the clear coats, sanding the 3rd with 800 w/d to smooth it out. Sand the final coat with 1200, 1500 or 2000 w/d paper, whichever you have the patience for. It should be reasonably shiny after 2000 grit. Then you can use brasso, silvo or the automotive hand glaze or swirl removers to buff the final shine with a cotton cloth.

tasty · Post by **tasty** » Sun Jun 12, 2005 11:52 am

when you say use acrylic lacquer paint mixed to your requirements... what does that actually mean?

ash · Post by **ash** » Sun Jun 12, 2005 8:10 pm

You go into the paint place and ask for acrylic lacquer in spray cans and pick the colour from their charts and they will mix it up and stick it into the spray can. "Your requirements" are simply the colour you select and the fact that it is acrylic lacquer rather than the variety of mystery slops that most aerosols come with.

This is about the only way to ensure that you're getting a quality, compatible system of products. If you use normal off the shelf spraycans, there is a high chance of it bubbling, cracking, wearing off, not drying properly etc. Very rarely can anyone in the shop even tell you what kind of paint is inside.

tasty · Post by **tasty** » Sun Jun 12, 2005 8:28 pm

ok cool
thx for all the advice

Rog · Post by **Rog** » Mon Jun 13, 2005 7:47 am

That's cool, Ash, I didn't know you could get that mix done in aerosols. Great tip.

Tehhaxorr · Post by **Tehhaxorr** » Mon Jun 13, 2005 7:36 pm

my gats already black, im set.

tasty · Post by **tasty** » Mon Jun 13, 2005 10:56 pm

is placemakers a good place to shop for these items? including the acrylic lacquer

ash · Post by **ash** » Mon Jun 13, 2005 10:59 pm

Placemakers will have some of the stuff, but probably not acrylic lacquer. You need to go to one of the automotive paint places I mentioned earlier for that. Mitre 10 seems to have a better range of abrasives than the other hardware stores.