Official Luthiers Forum!

I am just applying a finish to my #9, a Martin OO twelve fret in Redwood and Maple. I used Ivoroid in the rosette and as a top binding. I have heard good thing about Endurovar so thought I would give it a try. Love it so far - it brushes reasonably well and sands great. I put on 8 coats in 8 hours, then leveled, and then 4 coats in 4 hours but not yet leveled.

I know that no finish is absolutely clear, but this is quite brownish - I wouldn't even call it amber. The first two shots are with a wash coat of shellac, and the last picture is how it looks before final leveling and polishing with a piece of Ivoroid binding to compare. I want the look under the single coat of shellac.

Does anyone have a suggestion for a material that would be less colored and still easy to polish by hand?

Thanks

Ed

That's a great looking guitar!

Water based finishes were the clearest of all the finishes I have ever used. I don't know of another.

How did you blacken that neck?

I think it looks really good Ed. I second the water based for getting a really clear finish.

_________________
Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

IIRC, WoodieG talked about another GF product in a post, (can't find it), may have been HIGH PERFORMANCE POLYURETHANE WATER BASED TOPCOAT, can't recall exactly.
They'd had some success with it as an alternative to Enduro Var but it was water clear, and handles a bit differently.
Maybe PM for some info?

_________________
The name catgut is confusing. There are two explanations for the mix up.

Catgut is an abbreviation of the word cattle gut. Gut strings are made from sheep or goat intestines, in the past even from horse, mule or donkey intestines.

Otherwise it could be from the word kitgut or kitstring. Kit meant fiddle, not kitten.

Colin - good Idea - I will ask Woodie. I am using her schedule and techniques for the Endurovar, which is water based also.

jf - the black is Fiebings black leather dye - it is black black black. I understand that Martin uses it to blacken their bridges and fingerboards. My experience is that once dry a couple of days, it does not come off on your hand, although it might dissolve a little when brushing some finishes on the for the first coat. I have used it before and sprayed a couple of very light coats of Zinsser shellac on first before brushing the rest of the finish.

Steve - thanks

I've used the Fiebings dye for blackening Cole-style banjo rims for many years. Good stuff. Still lets a little bit of grain show through, which I like, but is very nice and black. I'll usually spray a seal coat on top of it before french polishing (which tends to rub a lot of the black off).

Dave

Since brushed finishes are much heavier, I'm thinking I might try doing less coats. The color shift is not something I am real happy about. If 3 or 4 coats will give a decent finish the "ambering" might not be so bad. There might svsn cases where it would be desirable.