How to buff out your guitar clear (step 2)
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- Опубликовано: 8 сен 2024
- Hey guys! I’m Brad, and I make how-to videos. I do custom painting projects, guitar painting, airbrushing, spray can painting, wood working, and a variety of other finishing work and tutorials. Please subscribe and check out my channel for more!
See part one of the polishing process here: • How to buff out your g...
This video is part of a series that shows the complete process for painting a guitar (with a specific paint system of course). This video demonstrates the second part of the polishing process that I use to achieve a mirror finish on my clear coated pieces. The same process should work for most types of top coat. The clear that I used on this guitar body was a catalyzed polyurethane.
Please keep in mind that some clears are more resilient than others. For example: some water based lacquers are much easier to burn through than this particular clear coat. In contrast to that, some urethanes will require more passes to polish out or may require the use of a coarser foam pad to begin with.
Objects that have been painted black will show swirl marks more easily and thus may require an additional step with swirl remover or final polish.
As always, feedback and questions are welcome.
I hope that you found this video helpful, or at least entertaining.
Thanks for watching.
To get in touch with me with your questions, photos, etc. use the links below!
/ bradangovepainting
/ brad_angove
/ brad.angove
/ bradangove
This was very useful, I'm about to try this process for the first time on my newly painted and clear coated Ibanez RG750 from the 90's. I summarised for my own purposes so putting it here in case it helps others:
Sand and polish a guitar (parts 1 and two summarised)
Sanding tips
-------------------
Best results if sand in the same direction.
Edges - either don't sand, as the imperfections are hard to see, but if you must then use highest (finest) grit and go easy. Very quick to burn through there as clear coat doesn't gather.
Summary of process
-------------------
Start with with 1500 grit if using sander, or 1000 if by hand.
Looking to get an even matt finish on the first pass with the most coarse grit.
Then move up to a higher grit, 3000, and smooth it out to that grit.
Then to take out the even smaller scratches and imperfections left at this point, go over with 5000 grit.
Now left with very fine scratches.
Then use a polishing compound (e.g. liquid ice) to fill in the very fine scratches.
Sanding in detail
-------------------
Quick pass with 1500 grit (sander) or 1000 grit (by hand).
Can now see matt higher spots where sanded, and glossy areas where sanding hasn't reached.
Continue to sand until you achieve an even matt finish.
Repeat the process with 3000 grit
Finally move onto the 5000 grit.
Note that the sanding with 1500/1000 is the longest step.
Polishing in detail
-------------------
First, clean the guitar.
Spread some polishing compound on it and use a soft, fine foam pad to rub.
Note that rub the whole of the back of the guitar, go right to the edge.
Do one pass, then rub clean with a tack cloth.
Don't push too hard, go easy, so that don't burn through the clear coat and ruin your project.
Should see a nice gloss after just one pass.
Do a second pass, same approach. This should be sufficient and you should have a nice mirror finish now.
That is the process complete.
Super thorough demo! Thanks 🙏 this was extremely helpful. I’m building a telecaster and sprayed an auto clear on it. It looks good where it’s at but I wanted to take it to the next level and wet sand and polish it out.
Glad you found the demo useful.
Thanks for sharing Brad, very informative!
I will be watching this series again. I will be sanding out my bodies, time allowing, soon!
Thanks again, Pam
Thanks Pam
Brad, your vids are terrific! I've built guitars for folks in the past, done the paint schemes, but left the finishing touches to a car dude. In my later years now, I have been reconditioning older axes, and doing my own refinishing. Thanks for the tutorials, man.
I feel I am revitalized in the guitar world!
+ranjmaan I'm very glad to hear that you're finding the videos useful. Thank you for watching!
Hey Brad.....just a quick "thanks" for the videos you have posted. I got quite a few good pointers from them for some projects i'm working on here in Austin Texas. I know it's not easy to put together each of these video's....so thanks again------Ed.
Thanks Ed. It's always nice to hear that the videos are helping people.
Great videos sir! I have recently decided to restore and paint and old guitar, and these videos are really helpful! Thanks a lot dude!
+Saúl Espinoza I'm glad to here that you found them useful. Thanks for watching.
Just looking at you dude, you make me want to go to the gym! Nice work!
Haha thanks Bill
Very nice Brad, quite helpful. I'm (nearly) ready to clear my old and busted ibanez bass, after some experimenting with the hok shimrin2 line. As an experiment it's turned out well to my eyes, good enough to get me a couple more refinishing gigs,, so yay for that and thanks!
That's awesome. Glad I could be of some use.
Brad, I’ve watched many of your videos and I love everything you’re doing, helping others learn more about painting and finishing, but I’d like to offer a bit of constructive criticism. Perhaps, even a little advice that might help you in future videos! So one thing I’ve seen is that you get lovely end results, but often, I think you might’ve gotten an even better result with just a slightly altered approach. I don’t think going above 2500 grit will really give you any substantial benefit. In fact, most people think going higher grit is better but they don’t realize there’s a good reason for starting lower even. With a lacquer let’s say, you’d want to scuff sand at about 800 after your final spray is dry. Then let it breath and shrink and cure for a good couple weeks. Clean it with tack cloth after any sanding. after the wait go at it by hand smoothly and carefully with 1200-1500. Having a good amount of sprays is important and doing some scuff sands every few coats will help you remove imperfections (always wait until lacquer dries before attacking dust or spots). But really, wet sanding DOES give slightly better results for lacquer during the final phase. Do 1500, get it smooth as possible by hand, move up to 2000 and repeat, then 2500, cleaning up your paper as you go in warm water with a bit of dish soap. Always soak the paper to keep it cloth like. Also always examine and correct spots carefully. At these grits, with plenty of lacquer on there, you won’t get through it if you’re being gentle for quite a while. Definitely don’t oversand but also don’t be too scared. Then, and this is important, use a good polishing cloth, rub in blobs of compound in sections of maybe a couple inches at a time. Don’t try to do the whole thing in a hurry. Now this is also key, give it a very firm polishing until you HEAR a squeaking. You aren’t done until the compound will squeak, which means it’s rubbing a surface that it can’t smooth any more. It’s max smooth. Do this for the entire guitar and you’ll see insane glass like results. Don’t be afraid to take another wet sand attack at spots you overlooked. Even after compound. You can always compound again in that spot. I’ve seen people get amazing results with a large soft polishing attachment for the drill. But I think that pad you had might not be the right tool. Anyways, I could go on in more details but hope that helps and thanks for all your hard work! We really appreciate what you do!
To add one more thing, I think the key is working a bit more by hand and really focusing in on those bad spots to get them out of there before moving on to another step. Each grit will only get a certain amount of bad spot out but you’ll see it clearly when to move up. I think most people make the mistake of not sanding enough. Just spray a lot of lacquer to give you that buffer to sand it properly. I’d say about 15-20 separate sprays. Yeah it sucks but you’ll get better results.
Thanks for the input. This one isn’t lacquer, but I agree that lacquer requires a fair few more coats. I never wet sand lacquer, but I do wet sand poly, particularly when I’m doing something that isn’t made of wood and has no risk of swelling.
Brad Angove
Right on. I figure a lot of the same rules can apply to both. Lacquer is a pain cuz it tends to require the most time and certainly is the most toxic!
Thanks for all the great content 👍
Thank you, very well done and easy to repeat.
Excellent!
Okay... So, it's all cleaned up.
Imma rub my hands on it!
Really though, nice set of videos. I'm looking to play about with an old Squier and colour-changing flake, and you make it look easy while still explaining everything.
Thanks, I hope they help you out with your project.
That was awesome, this whole series has been really educational.
Thank you. I'm glad you found it informative.
Thanks for this video Brad, I was confused how they achieve a lovely high gloss and you made it easy to understand and did a great job. Once you get the principle it's a lot easier to avoid things that can go wrong so Thx much\M/.
+Mickeyislowd Thank you. I'm glad you found the videos helpful.
Hey Brad I love your work and was wondering if you could do a DIY how to on the Steve Vie JEM Series Swirl paint jobs. a step by step on how the Borax is added to the water, what kind of paint is used. How to dry the water off the guitar before it seeps to fare into the wood. There are allot of guitarist who like the marbled look but can't afford the $1,500 to $2000.00 and don't realize that for about $50 to $100 they can have the Passion and Warfare guitar look.
Hi Larry. I wish I could do this for you, but unfortunately I've been consistently unsuccessful with swirl jobs. I actually had to turn down a commission for one recently because I'm not good at them. I recommend that you check out theBigDGuitars youtube channel. He's done some testing with that stuff recently and could probably help you out.
Brad Angove if you ever perfect the swirl technique please do a tutorial.
I certainly will Caleb.
But the finish still isn't flat/smooth like a mirror. You can really see it when your overhead lights are being reflected. The edges of the lights aren't crisp or sharp. They're sort of warbly (open to a better term). Know what i mean? Would starting with like 1000 or 1200 first have fixed that? How do they manage a mirror finish in the factories?
You're right, honestly I was just a bit lazy about it. Ensuring that the finish is sanded completely flat before moving up to the higher grits would have fixed it. In the factories they use large buffing wheels instead of a little hand polisher.
Great videos. Great explanations thanks.
What type of surface do you sand and polish the body on? Is a towel OK or will that put marks in the clear? I would think if you give sufficient time for the clear to cure it should be hard enough?
Correct; if it’s sufficiently dry the towel shouldn’t hurt it.
Nice job, thanks for sharing! Is that the Ibanez Iceman? I'm working right now on a natural walnut replacement body for the Ibanez Black Eagle bass. Your pointers will be extremely valuable!
Yes, it’s an iceman.
@BradAngove ... I thought so, this is such a good-looking shape!
Hi Brad,
If you still have a little bit of a slight waivy effect, not orange peel per se, but just a slightly varigated waivy look to the surface, after the 5000 grit but before polish, then will the polishing process take that completely out, or do you recommend going up in grit size, say 7,000 to 10,000 grit, until the waivy effect is completely gone prior to polishing?
There’s no need to go any higher than 5000. Even that is more smooth than necessary. The idea is to get it perfectly flat before moving up trough the grits, so if you get it to 5000 and it’s waive, consider moving back down to the grit you started with.
Ok, thanks very much Brad, good to know! Your videos are a great help Brad, and I'm looking forward to the upcoming Spalded Maple video!
You should add the link to part (1) in the description as mentioned in the video.
Yes I should. Thank you for pointing that out.
While i can appreciate the sheen on the surface, it definitely coulda used some more level sanding.
Indeed.
Hi Brad, thanks for this complete 2 part tutorial it's very helpful and it brings up a question for you
Have you experimented using Spray max 2k clear glamor over acylic paints?
Thanks in advance for your extra time.
I certainly have and my tests have all been successful.
@@BradAngove That's awesome news and feedback 😀
Thanks so much!
I like your style and have learned a bunch from you
Glad to hear it Denny
Buenas amigo saludos desde venezuela, desde hace unos años trabajo pintando guitarras y bajos y poco a poco e aprendido, me parece interesante el video, tienes las herramientas perfectas para el trabajo, como amigo podria sugerirte que a la hora de lijar el transparent ( clearcoat), utilices una lija P800 con la orbital sander para que elimines totalmente la piel de naranja, luego usa P1500 y P2000, luego procedes a polish, cuando la superficie es bien lijada no es necesario aplicar tanto polish, y para retirar el polish utiliza un paño de microfibras, de esta manera lograras un acabado espejo, mi comentario es por que se nota que la superficie aun tiene piel de naranja y que cuesta mucho pulir, de nuevo saludos desde venezuela y espero haber ayudado, cada dia se aprende algo nuevo. I dont speaking english jeje
Thank you for the tip. If I understand you correctly, I have used that system as well.
Cool vids👍! Very helpful, thank you Brother
Cheers man. Glad you’re finding them useful.
In part 1 you mentioned not to sand the edges or sides for risk of burning through the clear. However, would you still compound and polish the edges and sides?
I wouldn’t typically do the sides unless I had to sand them. I don’t generally avoid edges while compounding and polishing though since that abrasive is so fine.
Whats your opinion on MinWax Fast Drying Poly in a spray can? I build Cigar Box Guitars and use it on the necks and it comes out gorgeous, but i have never tried it on a large surface like a guitar body. I am considering buying the spalted top tele kit from Solo and am thinking about a nice dark walnut wood stain with spray can poly as my clear like i do my CBG necks. I live in a townhouse with no garage so I have no where to set up a paint booth, I do all my spray painting outside behind the house.
The poly works fine, but you’ll find that staining spalted maple doesn’t work very well.
Hey man, thanks for posting the video! I am creating a custom guitar... and I probably should have looked you up before I started using Clear coat from a spray can...... My question is this.... can I still get a good finish using spray paint clear coat (gloss)? and/or can I go over the clear coat with the catalyzed polyurethane? basically... what should I do in order to get a nice clear coat? ohh also, I am def a fan of the satin finish as well.. and like you said in part ones video that I can sand it with the 5000 grit to get that look... is that possible with spray paint clear coat as well? thanks Brad!
Hi Nicholas. You have a few options depending on what clear you used. You can probably let it cure completely, then sand it with about 800 grit and apply the catalyzed polyurethane. Another option is you can polish it to get a high gloss finish from it using the same steps as in this video (once again, this depends on the clear coat you used). You could also let it sit for a day or two then sand it with 800 grit then re-coat it with satin finish clear of the same type if they have it. For starters, what kind of clear did you use?
Thanks for getting back to me so quickly! I used Rust-oleum painters touch 2x ultra cover gloss clear. also... it was drying so quickly, mainly because I was putting on such light and thin coats, thatI was recoating it every 5 - 10 minutes.. zero drips or runs... but is is bad to do that? just for future reference.
Doing light coats is fine, but it can be difficult to get a good glossy look doing it that way. If it's glossing out well, then go for it. With that clear you should be able to use any of the options I gave you before.
Brad would you finish the neck with the same process except skip the bluffing? Leave the 5000 grit sand marks not to make the neck too sticky when sliding your hand up and down the neck?
Also thank you for making these videos, I am building my first guitar kit and I follow your videos since you work in a manor that can be done in ones basement without too many tools.
Yes, I have done necks using the same method and I generally prefer them not to be polished fully.
Thank you
Great video, as usual, Brad. Do you have any suggestions for buffers that don't cost a ton of money? I'm building one guitar, I won't be opening a guitar shop. Thanks.
Do you have an orbital sander?
@@BradAngove I do, just figured it was too heavy for that job.
I use mine for polishing in softer finishes and it works fine.
@@BradAngove I'll try that! Thanks!
Hey Brad, finding your videos VERY useful, thank you! I'm thinking about doing my first guitar repaint and really like your approach to teaching all this. Quick question: if I use Meguiar's (you mentioned this product in your video) should I get the "compound" or the "polish". Not sure of the difference, if any. Again, thanks for the helpful videos!
You’ll want both of those. Start with the compound. It is most important. Then clean it carefully and finish off with the polish.
Great, thanks for the help Brad!
How long will it actually take for the acrylic clearcoat to fully dry? Thank u sir
Matthew Basa I'm not sure about acrylic clear coat. What kind is it?
I made a mistake on my first try of painting my guitar neck.
I put 8 layers of krylon acrylic clearcoat (gloss).
the clearcoat was still pretty soft even after 3 weeks of letting it sit to dry. Is there any suggestion on applying the clearcoat properly?
I believe we have a conversation about this going on facebook now. Is that correct?
Yup. Thanks man
Any time.
Didn't notice until I came onto step 2 that you had a piece of wood from Can West. Where about's are you in Canada? Great videos man. Keep em up!
I'm located in Alberta, more specifically Edmonton. How about yourself?
Kelowna, British Columbia here dude. Keep up the good shit eh.
Nice. I'm jealous haha. Thanks eh!
HI Brad. Thanks sooo much for these videos. You got me to start restoring an old 335. I have a question. I spray canned it- looked great thanks to you. Got it clear coated (spray catalyzed polyurethane) at an auto body shop-looks nice. Now to get out the orange peel. I am doing everything by hand. Can you please outline my next steps to get to a gloss with no orange peel. Wet sand or not? what gauge sandpaper to start? hand polish tips? thanks again for sharing your wisdom!!!!!!
You need to sand it flat. Probably start with 1000 grit. Then lightly sand with something in the 1500 to 2000 range, and then again at 2500. Use a sanding block if you can.
What kind of polish are you using?
Dude- thank you so much! I don't know what polish to use yet. And you mean dry sanding correct? Thanks again!@@BradAngove
I generally prefer dry sanding, yes.
Awesome, thanks a lot.
So for polishing agent, I have to find the ones that has the word "compound" in the name? thanks
+nixland That’s usually a good start; yes.
Great video. I bought a vintage Mosrite about a year ago and I'm just now approaching cleaning and working with it. The back is in great shape however there are some chips on the upper side and the clear is orange pealing a little on the top. Can I use this same process to take out most scratches and reduce the clear coat problem?
Thanks
You should be able to take out the small scratches using this process. For the orange peal you need to follow the steps in the previous video for sanding as well. Be careful about trying to buff over chipped areas. If the clear coat has chipped off but there is still paint underneath, buffing could ruin that unprotected paint.
It's still orange peel finish on the front and back? It's less, but still orange peel looking.
Just keep sanding until it’s perfectly flat before you polish.
Hello Brad. What rpms on a hand held polisher is best for compounding and polishing? I have a Avid dual action random orbital polisher that the slowest rpms is 2700. Will that be to fast and aggressive for polishing?
No, that should be fine. I don’t have specific measurements on mine, but I suspect it’s higher than that.
I just want to make sure people aren’t trying to polish paint with angle grinders etc. They spin at 10,000-12,000.
@BradAngove thank you very much. You always take the time to answer my questions. I appreciate that. Have learned alot from your videos. I have also ordered a few items off of your Amazon page. Hope that helps alittle on your end.To correct my mistake being it is a random orbital polisher it lists the speeds as opm, not rpm. Also, it says no load speed. Just to give all the details. Thank you again.
Hi Brad. I never seem to see you sanding or buffing the sides or belly cut type contoured areas. I’m working on a Strat body and am having trouble with those areas. What do you do?
I generally don’t find that I need to do the sides, but on the occasion that I do need to I like to use a flexible sanding block. Using your palm is also adequate in most cases.
Then it’s a matter of either buffing by hand or very carefully with the small polisher (unless you have a bench polisher).
Brad Angove thanks Brad!
Hey brad!!! I´m planning to star painting my guitar this saturday. My idea is to paint a couple of layres with RUS OLEUM WHITE PRIMER..wet sand every layer. Then paint the base colour. Wet sand and then several layres of rust oleum laquer and wet sand too....is this correct?. Great videos by the way...greetings from argentina!!!!
Hi there. I generally don't wet sand guitars. I also only sand between layers when I'm not re-coating within the re-coat window. I sand after all of my primer is down, and then lightly before applying my layers of clear coat, and of course for the polishing portion.
Thank u very much!!!!!
+alfredbbp You're welcome.
Just finished watching through this whole series of videos so thanks for all the great info. I do have a couple of questions though. I have a bass guitar that is stripped back to just the wood and sanded to a 400 Grit at the moment which I am looking to finish in a white pearl flake with Autoair + Catalysed Polyurethane clear coat.
First how fine should I sand the wood, is 400 ok?
After I put the primer on should I sand that down? If so to what grit?
Is it necessary to sand in between coats?
For each step you did about 3-4 coats, How much time did you leave between coats?
What colour sealer would I use for a white pearl finish?
For may bass is it correct that I would do Primer, Sealer, Pearl Coat & then the clear coat?
Thanks again for the great videos :)
Hi Travis. Thanks for watching my videos. For the sake of my own curiosity, are you using the pearl white, the hot rod sparkle white, or a combination of the two?
Ideally for auto-air, you want to sand to 600 grit. For primer 400 is excellent. If you have grain filled, you may not need primer so you can sand to 600 and use sealer. That being said, I think that your best option is to prime it now, then let that cure and sand it lightly with 600.
Then you will put on your sealer. God with the white. It will give you way better coverage, you will save paint, and you will reach your final coat faster. As with all auto-air paints, you asses how many coats you need based on the coverage. Depending on your painting style you may need one or two more or fewer.
Your drying time depends on the temperature and airflow in the room, as well as how heavy you put your paint on. I have applied a light coat, dried it gently with a heat gun, and re-coated within 2 minutes before. I would let it dry for about 15 (by itself) for a light coat just to be on the safe side. Obviously don't paint if you're in a cold area.
You don't need to sand between coats. You can sand your sealer a bit if it doesn't look smooth, but sanding your pearl will mess it up a bit. That being said, if something gets in your pearl you can sand it out and then dust on another light coat to disguise the area that you scuffed.
You have the order of operations correct. Primer if you want it, then sealer. Then you could put down a white base, but I would go straight to the pearl. Keeping your paint relatively thin is usually a good idea on guitars so as not to affect the resonance. If you want a really wild sparkle, put a light coat of hot rod sparkle white (mixed 50/50 with transparent base) over your pearl white to accent it. Then go straight to your clear.
Good luck with your project. Let me know if you have any other questions.
Are you going to video it?
Brad Angove
Thanks for the response, I just went and had a look because I actually bought the paint a while ago, It is the Hot Rod Sparkle I have. I probably won't be videoing it but will post up some progress pictures (can send you a link if you're interested).
I have one more question, You mentioned not painting in a cold environment. Is there a rough room temperature I should be aiming for? Or should I just avoid it being cold?
Thanks
Just avoid it being cold. Room temperature is fine, and warmer is ok. If it's cold it won't dry properly. Also. switching from cold to warm can cause humidity issues, so don't try to paint in the cold and then bring it somewhere warm to dry if you can avoid it.
I'm glad you told me it was the hot rod sparkle. There is something very important that you need to know about that, which based on your question about sealer colour you are not aware of. Hot rod sparkle white is transparent. The sparkle itself reflects whatever colour it is over, and the paint doesn't actually offer any coverage per se. If you shoot that stuff over black sealer, you're gonna end up with a sparkly black guitar no matter how many coats you do. Use white sealer, or white base underneath it.
Also, you should know that the hot rod sparkle will not look like a normal pearl. It is crazy reflective, so be prepared for a lot of sparkle.
Brad Angove Ahh ok awesome thanks, I will let you know how it goes :)
Brad love your videos. I wonder what kind of buff gun you are using?
+Browning Lui Thank you. I use a 3" Astro pneumatic polisher.
+Brad Angove thank you, you're awesome! ur vdo are very informative, n you did great works on guitar finishing keep up the good work mate :)
Thanks. Good luck with your project!
Will Fire polish work with Behlin lacquer nitro? thanks
I’ve never used the fire polish method on nitro. It seems very risky, and I’m not sure if it will work.
I want to resrpay a plastic keyboard case. The case has a rougher / matte finish. I want to keep the matte finish but change the colour so I plan to prime it and use matte spray paint. 1. do you recommend that I use clear coat? 2. if yes, do you recommend that I polish it afterwards? 3. if I do need to polish, can I do all the sanding by hand or should I rent sanders like you have? I want the best result.
I would spray it with a matte clear coat at the end. Don't polish it; that will make it gloss.
Thank you. Maybe a strange question but I'm finding it very hard to source matt / flat spray in a grey colour in Europe. If I can't find the colour that I need, would it be just as good to buy gloss and then scratch it down to create more of a matt / flat finish?
+delatroy yes; that’s an option as well. Might not be quite the same, but very close if you have nice fine sandpaper.
Brad Angove thank you mate :) You are like the highest performing RUclips spray paint man on the interwebs 🙀🙀😅👊🏻
+delatroy Working on it haha.
Massive help 👍👍👍☠️🎸☠️
That's good to hear.
Did you play Nathan Stark in Eureka?
You know, I've gotten a lot of doppelgänger comments; and I mean a lot. That was a new one, and I've never heard of the guy. That being said, in my not so self-aware opinion, that was the first one I've ever agreed with haha. I do kind of just look like that guy's younger less attractive brother.
:D
Love your vids, thanks.... I recently finished several guitars with lacquer spray cans.... I let cure for about 12 to 14 days..... then off to sand starting with 1000, then 12 then 15 then to 2000 and buff with a foam pad in a drill.. every time I do this, same results, I get very high sheen, yet I can see a ton of scratches , they are random in sizes and depths... is it possible I don't wait long enough.... or maybe I should try poly urethane ........ I feel that if I buff much more, ill surely burn through.... ..... plus i dont want to sand anymore for the same reason ... thoughts?
It’s possible that your compound is too abrasive to finish it off. You may need to move to a finer polish.
It could also be a bit of debris on your foam pad. Make sure it’s nice and clean or anything on it could leave scratches.
If the finish is black, or close to it, you’re essentially going to see swirl marks regardless.
Brad Angove thanks for the info....I also wonder if maybe my compound isn't coarse enough to get the scratches out originally.... after watching a few more of your videos, I think im going to try a polyurethane for my next guitar ... I also wonder what kind of sandpaper u are using with the 1500 and on up, since it doesn't even clog without "wet" sanding..... I typically use 3m wet/dry with soap n water but maybe that's been my problem the entire time too... lol... sorry but it just seems like the only part of the process of building a guitar that I can't ever seam to get right
That’s also possible. Can you tell by the scratch pattern if it appears to be from sanding or from the polishing?
There’s nothing wrong with wet sanding. Most people don’t use soap anymore, but water shouldn’t cause clogging. I just don’t use it water on guitars because they’re made of wood haha.
Brad Angove yea I got that about wet sanding.... as for the scratches some look really deep like almost from paper but yet after buffing I can see a ton if little scratches that are not deep at all more surface..... also I'm always afraid to sand out all of the shiny spots with the 1000 grit that I might sand through the finish... usually i use Mohawk finishing products and use cans of tone finish clear gloss, i use one entire can... then wet sand, and then use their 3 step buffing system.... but for whatever reason it never goes good... if I had your email I could send pics...
Brad Angove also thanks so much for helping me..
Hi again! I didn't order the Ultimate Compound yet,but I started to sand the clear coat flat.After I sanded it with a 1000 grid sandpaper I made many white sratches, what covers the surface and make the paint coat unvisible,so the clear coated black surface became white,because of the many white scratches. Is that normal,and will the Compound get it black again,or I've done something wrong?
You're doing ok by the sounds of it. You will want to move to a higher grit now like I did in the previous video. Try to use 2000 or 2500 grit or even higher if you can. Usually the clear doesn't go opaque white. What clear did you use and how long did you let it dry?
Mean Machine Clear Coat. It looks something like this : www.google.hu/search?q=sanded+clear+coat&newwindow=1&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=Iap-UpT4MqyT0QXnuYHAAQ&ved=0CAkQ_AUoAQ&biw=1366&bih=630#facrc=_&imgdii=_&imgrc=EjNtsTn0nPvbjM%3A%3B7qgc3HhyO5awkM%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwebpages.charter.net%252Fbrucer1%252FLevelSand3.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwebpages.charter.net%252Fbrucer1%252FLeveling.html%3B504%3B336
Perfect. That's what it's supposed to look like. Some clears whiten more than other when you sand them (and it also depends on the grit that it's sanded to), but when you polish it out it should bring back the glossy look that you are going for.
How do you polish the sides and the awkward angles?
I do it carefully with this polisher, but you can also do it by hand with a piece of old t-shirt.
Brad Angove thank you. What about the sanding on those same awkward spots? Sand by hand?
WHERE IS THE BEST PLACE TO FIND THE LIQUID ICE POLISH?
+mario urbina I GOT MINE ONLINE.
What do you use to clean it when you're done? Thanks!
The guitar? Just was and grease remover usually.
*wax
@@BradAngove Thanks a ton. Your videos have been super helpful.
instead polish and get the guitar shine, how can i take the shine away that it will look more like a old vintage guitar?
+Rody “rodysk8” Myself I don't have a video out on relicking techniques, but you can carefully scuff the shine off with steel wool or a scotch pad. Sandpaper is also an option, but you need to be cautious with the process.
ok thank you appreciated
You're welcome. Best of luck with your project.
what polisher are you using. I also paint guitars using all automotive urethane paint.
It's a 3" polisher made by Astro.
ok thank you
So it's best to leave the contour alone?
Or be very careful with it. Even more careful if you’re doing a lacquer finish since it’s thinner and not as hard generally.
after applying lacquer how long do you wait before wet and drying?
First let me clarify that I did not use lacquer on this guitar. I used a catalyzed polyurethane and waited about a week if I remember correctly. I could have sanded after just a couple of days though.
If I had been using lacquer instead, I would have waited 2-4 weeks depending on the conditions.
Brad Angove oh crap I've just finished laquering my bike frame and waited only 2 days before polishing, it looks great but will it turn to s**t over time?
It shouldn't. If you managed to polish it after that amount of time, then you're probably ok. Are you sure it was lacquer that you used? There are other clear coats that are good to go after 2 days.
Brad Angove It was clear lacquer it those rattle cans, Great vid, really helpful thanks!
Thanks for watching.
could you leave the guitar that way without polishing after all the buffing?
+sluggz956 Technically yes, but I'm not sure what stage you're referring to exactly.
+Brad Angove after buffing it out with the 5000 grit before you started to polish it.
Oh, I see. It will be more difficult to clean off things like sweat from your arm etc. if you do that, but yes, you can leave it at that stage if you would like. It will also offer slightly less UV protection.
+Brad Angove oh ok so the best and safest bet is to just polish it. what kind of polish did you use by the way I couldn't make out the label. oh and thanks for replying. Your video was very informative too. keep it up bro.
Well, if you don't want that high gloss you can use a matte finish clear coat instead. The polish that I used here was Liquid Ice made by Norton.
U didn't show how to do the curves those can be really tricky
I almost never do the curves. They generally don’t need it.
Brad Angove the only reason I noticed is I’m doing some rims with my son teaching him on spray cans and there’s a lot of curves in them I find your RUclips videos the most informative so I follow what you do closely thanks for your time
Thanks Jeff. The curves on rims are difficult. You can polish them, but you may want to consider looking up how to do a flow coat instead, and just adapt that technique a bit to spray cans.
Brad Angove I got another question if you where to paint rims would you use rattle cans and if so how would you protect it from the environment
I probably wouldn’t use spray cans, but if I did it would be the clear coat from my video on how to get a professional looking clear coat with spray cans. I would do it inside in a well ventilated area and follow the tips from my recent video on how to avoid getting dust in your paint jobs.
It is a World, somehow...
+ranjmaan It is indeed.
friend good videos. invest in a lavalier mic. the his in the videos is hard on the ears
If you look at any of my videos from the last 4 years or so you’ll see that I have done that.
Im so sick of these double commercials
Double? Geez RUclips...
I don't understand, why don't you put in the effort to properly do this? you dismiss the guy who says he still sees the orange peel with "you must have good eyesight", but he's right, there's a lot of orange peel still on and you simply ignored some areas of the body, like that first hole for the neck part and it clearly shows.
I appreciate people showing others how to do stuff but this doesn't really fill them with confidence about how it's gonna turn out. I wouldn't be satisfied with this polish job if the guitar was meant for me or a client. I don't understand. You have the tools, you could have done it properly.
Sarcast Let me see if I can clear this up a little. To begin with, I feel that I've put in plenty of effort to give people a good rundown on how polishing works. It is a free information source after all, and the part about it not being done properly may be a matter of opinion.
Next, I don't see how my response to that individual was particularly dismissive. It seems to me that he does have good eyesight, and what else would one say to that? No it doesn't? Yes, thanks for noticing? Feel free to suggest a more appropriate or less dismissive response.
Additionally, I explained to some degree why I avoided some areas. Sanding near edges is risky because the paint sits on them thinner. I didn't feel that it was worth worrying about sanding through my clear coat in order to ensure that the area between the neck screws is perfect if that's what you're referring to.
As it stands, none of the people who have paid me to paint and polish their guitars have told me that there was an unsatisfactory amount of orange peel in the finish. If you have a better process for polishing, and would like to show me how to do it "properly" feel free to show me. I'm always interested in learning new techniques. If you're unsatisfied with the quality of this free tutorial, feel free to continue offering constructive criticism. If I can't meet your expectations, I might consider giving you your money back haha.