Official Luthiers Forum!

I have a question for anyone with experience with KTM-9.
I have a body with a brushed on finish hanging to dry, and I'd like to get the guitar finished sooner rather than later. I'm wondering what people think a minimum cure time is. Mike Doolin's article on the LMI sight says as little as 5 days in a pinch - but that seems extreme to me.   All my experience is with nitro, though - I don't have any real prior knowledge here.

I could stretch the process to 10 or 12 days and meet the
abreviated schedule I'm faced with. Go for it, or let it slide and give the finish more time?

Jim Kirby

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Jim Kirby
kirby@udel.edu

Jim,
I have had succes with a 10 to 14 day cure time.

[QUOTE=Robbie O'Brien] Jim,
I have had succes with a 10 to 14 day cure time. [/QUOTE]

Thanks. That would work, then.

My ulterior motive is that I'm trying to get the guitar done in time to take it with me to a luthier course for a critique. For Christmas, my wife signed me up for Frank Finocchio's course, starting Feb. 6 (good call, dear!) This would be my first completely finished acoustic guitar.

Jim Kirby

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Jim Kirby
kirby@udel.edu

I have been reading up on this since I've order a gallon of the stuff from LMI. You can use Infrared lights to speed up the cure time. Now if I could find a local source that sells that kind of lights I'd be all set.

Hey Jim, I think your wife might have sent me an email asking about Frank's coures. Glad to hear she got you signed up for it.

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Dave Rector
Rector Guitars

Dave, your right, I remember that. I think she hit your site while trying to find Frank. I think you have the most prominant mispelling of Frank's name, among several.
) I don't know enough Italian to get his last name right automatically.

I'm really looking forward to the course.

Jim Kirby

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Jim Kirby
kirby@udel.edu

Yeah, I think I have and extra "n" in there or something. Ashamed to say, I haven't changed it yet either.

You will definately enjoy Frank's class. There will be a lot of big smiles at the end of the week when you string it up for the first time. Frank is a very skilled and very patient man, which makes for an excellent teacher.

Enjoy

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Dave Rector
Rector Guitars

[QUOTE=Graham Steward] I have been reading up on this since I've order a gallon of the stuff from LMI. You can use Infrared lights to speed up the cure time. Now if I could find a local source that sells that kind of lights I'd be all set.

[/QUOTE]

Most any hardware store will carry IR lamps. They are often called heat lamps. Look at the bulb, GE packages them as heat lamps but the bulb will be stamed "IR" my local Ace Hardware, which carries really very little inventory carries them.

A little warrning on their use I would not get closer than 20" to any point on the guitar. It is pretty easy to bubble the finish.

MichaelP38741.3977662037