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Getting close to the finish process on guitar #1. I've finished 5 or 6 instruments with nitro but don't want to follow this path any longer. I want to brush or rub the next finish. I've been considering all the top suggestions, enduro, em600, buttonlac, crystalac, I just can't make up my mind and it's time to put in the order and start practicing with my choice.

I've french polished a mandolin and it came out great but seemed like a lot of work. I tried to spray a guitar with EM600 and fought craters and gave it up, probably due to having a less than perfectly clean booth. I want to get the finish on and deal with it with sanding as this seems like the quickest path to a nice finish. I don't want to deal with nasty fumes so brushing or rubbing waterborne or shellac is it. I don't like tru-oil. I don't expect anyone to make up my mind for me, I just want to talk it out, again.

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Hutch

Get the heck off the couch and go build a guitar!!!!

emtech works well with just a sponge brush , cross links well and levels sands and polishes nicely

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John Hall
blues creek guitars
Authorized CF Martin Repair
Co President of ASIA
You Don't know what you don't know until you know it

Hutch—

What about pore filling? Any preferences there?

I have to say that, for a brushed/sanded finish, I am super impressed by the Silver Tip — Enduro Var combo. The only reasons I am moving on to spraying are because I want to do less sanding, and I want to experiment with some finishes that need to be sprayed. But I might spray Enduro Var, along with a few other finishes I want to try.

Bottom line: brushing on Silver Tip as the pore filler, and Enduro Var as the finish, gives a really nice final product. The only downside is that there is a lot of level sanding involved. But that is a necessary evil of brushing on a finish, as opposed to spraying it on.

Good luck with your choice.

I’ve been using EM6000 and its precedents for many years. Sometimes, when I want to finish in winter and don’t want to set up the spray booth indoors, I’ll brush it on an instrument. I’ve found that putting on many very thin coats gives me the best results. I use a very good sable brush. When the coating starts to show ridges, I sand level and keep going. The job isn’t as good or fast as if I’d sprayed, but it’s pretty good. I start with a couple of coats of rubbed shellac after pore filling.

If you’ve got craters, you have contamination, probably silicone. You’ll need to find and fix that problem. Some sandpapers have coatings that can cause this. I’ve had good success with the yellow Mirka and 3M papers.

If you like the way your mandolin came out then why not just stick with shellac? If you want a bit more toughness to a shellac finish consider Royal Lac. To speed up an FP finish brush on the first 3 coats, wet sand with oil and level, then apply with a pad another 7-10 sessions.

I ended up stripping my mandolin because of case rash. Maybe I didn't let it cure long enough.

I have Aqua-coat and Zpoxy so I'll use one of them for sure.

I think I'm leaning toward EM6000, I like the burn in part of it. If I can brush without cratering I would love it. Having said that, I'm leery of trying this product again but I'm sure since others have good luck with it that I just need to ensure a clean room and avoiding certain sandpapers.

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Hutch

Get the heck off the couch and go build a guitar!!!!

ordered from targetcoatings, em600, ush 3000 and retarder. time to start practicing.

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Hutch

Get the heck off the couch and go build a guitar!!!!

I never got a good finish with any of the waterbased finishes I've ever used but it's been so long that they probably have better ones out there. The EM600 certainly has good reviews. I'd love to have a good safe water base finish to use so I look forward to your reviews on it. I've always brushed it on too.

Same here

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Hutch

Get the heck off the couch and go build a guitar!!!!

I did one guitar with EM6000 and I liked the way it sprayed and polished out. But when I held up the finished guitar next to a nitro finished one, it paled in comparison. Clarity and gloss were unsatisfactory.

I'll be sure to not compare it to lacquer.

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Hutch

Get the heck off the couch and go build a guitar!!!!

For some reason it is not mentioned but if you want a modern padding finish Behlen Qualasole is a good. It is padding on with straight with the grain passes with a lint free cotton rag. Apply new coats ever 30-60 minutes. It builds fast, it is durable nitro like and can be leveled and buffed. I have done a few tops with it. I have switched to either spraying for steel strings and shellac FP for classicals and ukuleles. https://www.shellac.net/behlen_qualasole.html

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http://www.Harvestmoonguitars.com

Em6000 is on it's way so that's what's going on this guitar.

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Hutch

Get the heck off the couch and go build a guitar!!!!

Oh wow I thought Qualasole was long a thing of the past. I have never tired it. Isn't it supposed to be 'shellac like?' I think as far as shellac replacements go I like Royal Lac thought I'm still not 100% sure how to apply it most efficiently yet.

John, do you apply it like a fp session where you go over the same spot many times or is it once over?

How many coats/sessions does it take to build enough to level in buff?

Pat

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Pat

I used Qualasole years back, mostly for the kind of spot finishing we'd do with CA nowadays. It worked fine, but I never had luck padding it on for the actually finish like FP. Undoubtedly bad technique on my part. But it did do well for me on finish touch ups.

I still have an ancient bottle of it around, and it actually still is OK to use...

Dave

From the data sheet (page 2) Qualasole appears to be a mix of shellac and boiled linseed oil plus various solvents:

https://toolsforworkingwood.com/prodimg ... -00016.pdf

Been practicing on scrap with em6000 applied with a brush. If it keeps going this way, I'll never use a spray gun again. It's such an easy and peaceful thing to do right in my basement with no odors. I'll let it cure a bit and start sanding and buffing soon. I'm liking it.

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Hutch

Get the heck off the couch and go build a guitar!!!!

Couldn't remember the names of everything so here pic.

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Hutch

Get the heck off the couch and go build a guitar!!!!