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Hi!

I did a search but could not find what I was looking for. I have a Taylor 810, 95 model, first year they used the polyester finish. Top was badly marred, so I want to refinish. I have sanded down quite a bit. Did research on polyester and determined it was out of my league. I guess I could send the body to Taylor...not sure I want to yet. Any ideas on the most durable finish woould be appreciated.

Thanks,

Mike

Mike there are certainly several good durable finishes, all have pros and cons. Some of those pros and cons can be:

durability with poor repair qualities (polyester falls in here)
ease of repair and flexibility with poor heat and water resistive qualities (sometimes seen as a softer finish certainly compaired to polyester and lacquer) (shellac falls in here)
ease of repair, rigid with poor heat resistive qualities (lacquer falls in here)
soft poor durability (most oil finishes fall in here)

It certainly depends what your looking for. If it just durability you want than a varnish such as Behlan's Rock Hard Table Top Varnish is what you want, but good luck with any future repair on it. Also if it's layed down to thick, you'll certainly affect the sound quality of the guitar by adding damping to the tops vibration.

Now if your going to be doing the re-finish your self you'll want to make sure your set up right for the job.

That's a whole different topic though.

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If you're not going to do the re-finish yourself I would suggest sending it
to Pat DiBurro.
He is who Taylor recommends for refinish or non-warranty work.
He repaired a 754 12 string for me that was cracked about 10 inches
down the binding and about 3 inch crack in the lower bout and it was
virtually an invisible repair.

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Christopher C. Cordle
North Muskegon, MI

http://www.yardsaleunderwear.com
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Thanks. As of now, I have decided to go with nitrocelluse lacquer...Easy to remove if I don't like the result. I have used sanding lacquer to prep the surface, sanding between coats...and basic lacquer to fill dings. It works well enough, but can be a slow process (ding filling). Seems that any "micro cracks" are harder to fill. Polyester really sucks when it comes to repair work (but does look good!). I am minding the issue of thickness too. But I really would like to find some kind of "harder" lacquer for the top coat, something that is catalyzed, or UV cured or whatever (cross polymerized). Does such a thing exist (that anybody in here has any experience with)? I agree that poly or varnish is a no-no.

(chris, thanks for the lead)

Mikeslackkeymike39081.4731018519

Anybody have any experience with Seagrave Coatings pre-catalyzed lacquers?

Mike

One word of caution here....

Unless you sand entirely down to bare wood you have to be concerned with compatibility. I doubt to many finishes will adhere to polyester. Be careful!!!

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Joe Beaver
Maker of Sawdust

I agree with that, and that is what I am doing.