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I use KTM9 finish material but have always been a little disapointed by the clarity of this product.But partly because I am a little green around the edges and partly due to the cost of properly setting up to spray nitro, I have continued to use it.

I have been using finess it ll and perfecte it ll polishing compound and untill last week hadn't found anything finer. (By the way these can be had for $10.64 per pint at the local auto paint store insted of $32.75 per quart from LMI)

I went there to buy a couple of bondo spreaders for Z-poxy and discovered a product call Hand Glaze show car finish. It is a 3M product as are the other two.

I tried it on a couple of dulcimers that I am readying for a show next week. The results is a clarity that rivals nitro.

Thhis might be old hat to some of you but it is a great discovery to me and I wanted to share.

cecil

Wow!!! I have been using KTM9 for 2 years now and I have to say I have no clarity issues at all. In fact I can put one of my KTM9 side by side with a nitro guitar and you would be hard pressed to tell the difference.

What is your sanding polish schedule? How fine of sanding do you go to?

I gather you do not use a buffer. I guess I should say here, that I do. 3 different wheels with 3 different grades of compound (med fine, fine and extra fine)

Also, what is you application schedule? Any waterborne will tend to be dull or cloudy if applied to heavy.

Boy did I miss read the second half

Glad you finaly got a finish you like. I love KTM9 and like I said have absolutly no clarity issues at all.
MichaelP38875.436712963

Michael,

I am folling Mike Dooliin's application schedual and spraying as light a coat as I can and still get coverage.

I sand to 2000 grit and buff by hand.Useing the 3M products mentioned in my earlier post.

The problem was not in the KTM9 but Perfect it ll just didn't yield as clear a finish as I wanted. The Hand Glaze show car finish is a finer compound and seems to have solved the problem.

I just completed application of KTM9 on my latest build and I will let you know how it turns out. I may even make another attempt at posting pics.

Cecil

I have been using KTM-9 as well. I have gotten real nice results using micro-mesh after the 2000 grit paper before moving on to the perfect-it. I have also tried the Meguire's plastic polish as the final step. I know some builders are down on KTM-9, but I really like the results.

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Cecil
Please do post pics when its done. Just make sure your pictures are a max. file size of 150 kb. Make sure the file type is something normal like jpeg, gif, or png. Don't include any symbols in the picture files name like "" , < # * That will also keep a picture from uploading right. If all that is right you should be fine. By the way, the picture upload button is the one that has a tree in the background with a blue arrow pointing up.

One thing that has improved my atempts at finishing with KTM-9 is using a little bit of akaline dye. I didn't really like the way it looked clear. But have tried a couple of color combinations, which although I haven't buffed them out they look pretty good to me.

Thats the raw maple underneath and the honey-mustard color I ended up with

Yeah, I use a little amber color also. That way it loses the blues...

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Joe Beaver
Maker of Sawdust