Official Luthiers Forum!

hello everyone, thanks to everyones input i now have a sealed soundbox with top and back glued on. i am now wondering what finish to use. i like the dull or natural wood look opposed to the shiney finishes. but i want something that will protect the koa and the soft spruce top from dents and bumps. although i have done many other koa finishes on various woodworking projects this is the first koa guitar or guitar for that matter, that i will be finishing. can anyone direct me to a website or old post with step by step finishing procedures. i.e. sand paper grit size, pore filler, etc. thanks again for the help.   

Hi Kama, i am not an expert, but for pore filling, alot of people here would recommend epoxy as a pore filler, for keeping the natural finish on mine, i'll let the pros like Robbie tell you how.

choises are many you can put a nitro or WB on and satin finish it with 0000 steel wool. Robbie should chim in pretty soon he has a great DVD out o finishing.

Kama,

I need to know what accesss you have to finishing equipment and how much and what level of protection you are looking for. I know what kind of sheen you want. If you have limited access to equipment and an adequate finishing area then I would suggest an oil varnish, (of which there are many varieties,) based on what information you have already given me. If however you have access to spray equipment and a finishing area, then the options are a bit more open.

I think with Koa you would be doing the wood an injustice to not use a high gloss finish. Sorry, just my opinion.

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"I want to know what kind of pickups Vince Gill uses in his Tele, because if I had those, as good of a player as I am, I'm sure I could make it sound like that.
Only badly."

my equipment is very limited, i would like to rely on a finish that i can do all by hand since i do not have spray equipment.

I am with Don. I think koa looks great under a "liquid" shiny finish. :-)

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Brock Poling
Columbus, Ohio
http://www.polingguitars.com

Probably then I would go with the oil varnish. Minwax has a wipe on poly that is available in both satin and gloss.
Another option would be to use epoxy to pop the koa, fill the pores and add some protection to the wood then French POlish over the top. You can then make it satin or high gloss, your choice.
My finishing DVD (www.apprenticepublishing.com) will show you all the steps needed to achieve either one of these finishes and both can be done by hand with no special equipment.
Good luck!

thanks, ill check it out.

I just finished watching Robbie's DVD and it does indeed take a lot of the mystery out of different finishes and finishing technigues. At the price of a couple of good paint brushes it is a very worthwhile investment. He even shows you how to achieve just the finish you have stated you are looking for.

Shane

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Canada

Thanks for the plug Shane. I am glad to you liked the DVD.