Official Luthiers Forum!

Hello. I am Mark Routen, a new OLF member from the Tampa, Florida area, and I want to briefly introduce myself.

I was smitten with the guitar as a result of a 7th grade woodshop class where the instructor was building a classical guitar, and so I have had a lifelong dream of building my own guitar. Five years ago I started reading and studying everything I could get my hands on in the areas of stringed instrument construction, acoustics, tonewood, woodworking, and wood finishing. In 2003 I had the opportunity to study guitar building in Vermont with George Morris.

There are now so many great luthier resources available but I have benefited greatest from the OLF! Thank you all SO much. Now after completing my 10th guitar, I have my first custom order and my first OLF question post.

I have finished my instruments with either Tru Oil or a spray water base finish from StewMac. My custom order needs a nitrocellulose lacquer finish and I am not set up to safely spray this finish. My question is this: are there any of you out there that do the spraying of the sealer and topcoats for other builders? I will do the final sand and pore filling and buffing, so I just need the lacquer sprayed. I am aware there are professionals that charge in the $300 to $400 range but that is a large percentage of my charge for this first custom order. Any help is greatly appreciated.

Mark:

I spray nitro in my driveway outdoors. Sort of the worlds biggest spraybooth. I am at the mercy of the weather, and I do get an occasional bug, but they sand out easily during my normal sanding. There are people at OLF who do finishes for hire, and they are quite good at their craft. I think that there is a current thread on that subject.
So to answe your question, yes there are some very good luthiers who will finish your guitar for hire.
But dont be afraid to spray outdoors as long as you don't have any local regulations forbidding it. All it takes is a spray gun and a compressor.

Al

Why does it need a nitro finish?

Mike

I agree with Mike here, how about french polish and then an application of varnish, to better protect from oily fingers? I'd love to see what Mr Carruth would have to say or advise on this matter.


BTW, welcome to the OLF Mark!

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