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I'm looking for tips on sanding and buffing Nitro. I can't afford to farm out my finishes right now and I really want to get good at finishing guitars myself. Right now I would classify my finishes as pretty good, but I now that could be just a little better.

I'd like to hear what other people do for sanding and buffing. I'm particularly interested in power sanding methods. I would like to go in this direction but I'm not really sure what tools and type of sandpaper I should be looking at. If there are any nitro users who could give a quick rundown on grits of sandpaper, sanding tools used and buffing tools used I would really appreciate it.

Josh

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Josh House

Canadian Luthier Supply
http://www.canadianluthiersupply.com
https://www.facebook.com/canadianluthiersupply?ref=hl
House Guitars - Custom Built Acoustic Instruments.
http://www.houseguitars.com

Josh...It's been a while since I've done nitro at home but in general, I followed the protocol listed on LMI's website. In general I used the following:
...wet sanding with wet/dry grits from 320 through 2000
...finish wet sanding using MicroMesh grits 3200 through 12,000
...Buffing wheels using Menzerna fine and extra fine

One key I found is to let the lacquer cure for at least 1 month if at all possible. It levels, sands and buffs out so much more effectively. Good luck!

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JJ
Napa, CA
http://www.DonohueGuitars.com

JJ,

I have not been using Micro Mesh but I will give that a try. Longer drying time also sounds like a good idea. I don't often get the chance to let the guitar hang for a month, but I should probably start working towards that goal.

Josh

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Josh House

Canadian Luthier Supply
http://www.canadianluthiersupply.com
https://www.facebook.com/canadianluthiersupply?ref=hl
House Guitars - Custom Built Acoustic Instruments.
http://www.houseguitars.com

Hi Josh

Our pro finishers here are using dynabride sanders like the Dynabride Spirit series with 3M gold paper.

I use a Festool ETS-125. I bought this sander with finishing in mind. The sanding discs on the Festool have a reinforcing ring around the perimeter that really helps keep everything level, and the papers last a long time. It was between this and the Dynabride, and my salesman told me that in his experience with Dynabride, you go through paper really fast. They sold each, so I feel like it was a fair comment. Would I get it again? Who knows. It does work really well though, and the dust collection is out of this world. Either path will get you an awesome sander

On the last guitar I used their Brilliant 2 400 to level, Platin 1000, Platin 2000, and then hand buffed with Meguires auto detailing compounds (can't remember specifically which ones off the top of my head). The Platins will work with any sander, not just Festool. They're a foam backed abrasive.

Next time I'm going to use the Brilliant 400, Platin 500, 1000, 2000, then machine buff.

Sanding the waist of the guitar and inside cutaways has always been tough for me. After talking with Joe White, and from a few things I read here, I'm going to get some PVC pipe, glue some cork to it, and then use it as a sanding block for these areas.

I've used Nitro for 30 years and with the advent of the micro-mesh sandpapers I feel like
it's made the process so much nicer. And I do agree, let the lacquer cure for as long as you can, a month is good, the polish will really look good.
If you do go all the way to 12000 grit, you'll be surprised how nice things look without any polishing. Of course you still need to polish but it goes much faster. I either use the rag wheel
if I'm feeling brave or resort to my variable speed polisher with foam pads, they work great as well. Love 3M rubbing compound used carefully with a good swirl remover.
To me, finishing is one of the most enjoyable parts of the process.

Best
Bruce

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Bruce Herrmann
"What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us."

All of the above and one thing to add. Be sure to not mix P classification and CAMI classification grits. If you do, be sure that you have a cross reference chart showing the grit comparison. Same goes if switching from one of these to MicroMesh.
I go up to P2000 then medium Menzerna. YMMV

I did a bit of a tutorial on how I get the finish on my guitars for the Australian / New Zealand Luthiers Forum. You can find it here for those that are interested.
http://www.anzlf.com/viewtopic.php?t=343

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Allen R. McFarlen
Barron River Guitars & Ukuleles
Facebook
Cairns, Australia

Here is an article on exactly how I shoot and sand and buff nitro. I do hand sand (no machines) from the first coat of nitro on to the finished product. Go http://www.wellsguitars.com/Articles/Lacquer_Finishing.htm.

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Sylvan
http://www.wellsguitars.com

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Laurent Brondel
West Paris, Maine - USA
http://www.laurentbrondel.com/

Those are a lot of really great tips guys!

thanks

Josh

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Josh House

Canadian Luthier Supply
http://www.canadianluthiersupply.com
https://www.facebook.com/canadianluthiersupply?ref=hl
House Guitars - Custom Built Acoustic Instruments.
http://www.houseguitars.com

I start with 1500 micromesh, go to 2400, then go to the buffer with medium and fine compounds. The levelling and all is done by hand, though. I did get some micromesh RO sander disks in the same grits, and may try them on my next build. You can get them directly from micromesh. HTH

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Brad Tucker

Glare .. my photographer hates it (so do I, for a good pic anyway). It took about 15 minutes to figure out how to light the room and shoot to get rid of it from these shots. But, the finish is good !!! Cure for a month, then fine and glans wach menzerna, then numbers 17 and 10 Mequiars by hand.

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Tony Karol
www.karol-guitars.com
"let my passion .. fulfill yours"

Tony......What in the world are we seeing in the lower photo?

I was wondering the same thing Nelson. Who put the ding in that body near the neck heel

Cool faux cutaway dude... from the photo though it looks like I see a small port or is it glare from the camera?

Josh on the wet sanding ... I am with Todd anything above 1000 seems to be overkill IMHO, especially if you have a buffing wheel. Hand polishing with Mequires as Tony suggests goes real quick if your final buffing session is with extra fine Mezerna on a wheel.