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After several years of using varnish I am about to throw in the towel - I love the look of varnish but it just takes too many hours.
The question I have is where to leave the guitars while the lacquer is curing. My shop is very tight and the outgassing would probably kill me and if I put them in the house my wife would kill me. How important is temperature and humidity control during this time? How long after spraying is the smell and/or toxicity a problem. Any solutions would be appreciated.

Thanks, Paul

Paul, I don't know where to tell you to keep the guitar for curing other than a well ventilated warm area, and definitely not in your house. But I have a question about the varnish, won't japan drier speed it up?

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Jim Watts
http://jameswattsguitars.com

It's not the drying time that is the problem - It's having to completely sand the guitar between every coat. And you have to sand the final coat very carefully and to a pretty high grit, because sanding scratches don't buff out nearly as easily as they do with lacquer. And if you sand or buff through a coat you get a witness line that cannot be fixed. You just have to do another coat on the entire surface (sides, back or top), there is no touching up.

Peace, Paul

Sounds like you'll have to leave it in your shop. Make a little cabinet like this,



and seal the doors. Add a little computer fan to suck air through the cabinet and out of your shop.

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Thanks Rod - That looks like a good solution. Thanks, Paul

Paul, since you're thinking about switching finishes anyway, have you thought about trying Tru Oil? The more I use it the more I like it. It's easy to apply and the end result is a super thin finish that is easy to repair and can be buffed to a fairly high sheen or left as a nice soft satin. I've used it on my last two builds and think that it will be my first choice going forward.

I would like to second the tru-oil idea although I must admit it is based on little experience. I haven't tried it up until now because I had assumed that you couldn't get a gloss finish. However, after seeing this guitar:

viewtopic.php?f=10101&t=17078&hilit=+true+oil+

I decided it was time to try it myself. I wiped on 14 thin coats on to a test board and let it sit for three weeks. After that I was able to sand and buff it out to a finish as glossy as anything I've been able to do with Deft, KTM-9 and French polished shellac. And it was the easiest to apply. So I will be using it on the guitar I just started.

Pat

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