Official Luthiers Forum!

Well, I finally did the stupid thing where you forget to latch a hard case, pick it up later, and the guitar falls out onto the lid and gets a row of dings as it scrapes along one of the latches (more or less identical to this http://www.luthiersforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=10102&t=14147&hilit=+lacquer+repair).

Fortunately only finish damage, so it's on to drop filling. But since I have no plans of finishing any full instruments in lacquer, I would rather not have a whole can of the stuff sitting around taking up space and going to waste.

Sooo, would any of the kind folks here be willing to mail me a tiny amount for this task? Really just a pipette full ought to do it. Tape over the tip, put it in a plastic bag incase it drips anyway, and into a $5 flat rate box or whatever. I'll pay shipping of course, plus a few bucks for the trouble.

A second pipette of lacquer thinner or acetone to soften the surrounding area first would be nice as well, but not entirely necessary as I could just buy a jug of acetone for general use.

Thanks in advance to anyone who can help!

Ya can't send this stuff (volatiles) thru the mail; maybe you could find a local luthier, woodworker, cabinet shop in your area willing to share a little of what you need...
regards
pvg

Get some clear nail polish, or in whatever color needed for the fill.

Nail polish is nitro lacquer. The size is perfect for touch up jobs like this.

_________________
Cat-gut strings are made from kitten guts, stretched out to near breaking point and then hardened with grue saliva. As a result these give a feeling of Pain and anguish whenever played, and often end up playing themselves backwards as part of satanic rituals.

Typhoon Guitars
http://www.typhoon-guitars.com

I read somewhere that a lot of the newer nail polishes are now shellac.

If they are shellac the smell should be quite distinct. Lacquer has its own smell and the clear ones that are any good should be yellow.

_________________
Cat-gut strings are made from kitten guts, stretched out to near breaking point and then hardened with grue saliva. As a result these give a feeling of Pain and anguish whenever played, and often end up playing themselves backwards as part of satanic rituals.

Typhoon Guitars
http://www.typhoon-guitars.com

Alrighty, thanks Tai Fu. I'll get some polish and run some tests on scraps to make sure it behaves properly.

As far as I know, it's ok to mail nitro as long as it doesn't go into the air (after all places like StewMac and LMI sell it)... although it probably does need a hazmat sticker, so maybe UPS would be better than trying to mess with the post office with the flat rate boxes. But if the nail polish works out, then I should be good to go.