Thread: What stage to start applying the finish

Don't know about everyone else, but I do mine after I finish all the sanding.

Thats the way I do it too.

Originally Posted by Fox3

Don't know about everyone else, but I do mine after I finish all the sanding.

Thanks ,
That doe's make sence,but at what stage of the construction or assembly do you start to apply a finish .

Do you generally fit the bridge,neck and nut etc first.

when all the woodwork and binding is totally done and all surfaces are sanded to 240 grit i do a test assembly and stringup, if all is ok i strip it all down and redo it all in 400 then get out the spray gun

i love the woodwork and find spraying the finish a total drag
i love the sand down and buffout
i love that first chord coming back at me from the ole fender

Hi Ray,

So you basically complete the guitar before finishing ?? I am building Stewmac kit and they suggest applying the finish first ,then fitting the bridge etc.


I am going to French Polish the guitar and I am not too sure if to fit the bridge etc first..

fit nearly everything after the finish has been done. finish the body on its own aswell as the neck.

i do solid and semi solid electrics
the process is different with accoustics
finish is last except if i want to bind the edges i put a solid coat or 2 of sanding sealer to stop glue marks on the raw wood. a real pia to get off
binding is done b4 routing the pocket, pickup an electronics cavities

Originally Posted by Strungout

Hi Ray,

So you basically complete the guitar before finishing ?? I am building Stewmac kit and they suggest applying the finish first ,then fitting the bridge etc.

I am going to French Polish the guitar and I am not too sure if to fit the bridge etc first..

French polish before you put the bridge on otherwise you will have to work the muneca around the bridge and its a P in the A.

Hi Martin.

Do you just mask off the position of the bridge while applying the FP ??

Some people mask off the bridge area, I generally dont bother. If you want to mask off then I would only mask off central area of the bridge as you dont really know exact footprint of bridge on the top untill it gets fitted. Mask off central area and then prior to fitting bridge use a scalpel to trim back shellac to exact periphery of bridge.

If youre french polishing then IMO youll find working the muneca will go alot smoother if theres no masking tape to impede progress.

Originally Posted by kiwigeo

Mask off central area and then prior to fitting bridge use a scalpel to trim back shellac to exact periphery of bridge.

If youre french polishing then IMO youll find working the muneca will go alot smoother if theres no masking tape to impede progress.

Thanks Martin,
Do you just sand and scrape the shelac off from under the bridge area (If its not masked off) so you can glue the bridge on to the top ..?

In the Stwmac instructions they do use a liquid paint stripper on the Acrylic finish.

(Sorry for the basic,dumb questions)

For water based and shellac finish I align the bridge and secure with temporary location pins through saddle slot on classicals or machine screws through the outer string holes on steel strings. I then carefully run a scalpel around the periphery of the bridge cutting through the finish. I then remove the bridge and carefully scrape off the finish using either a single edged razor blade or a very sharp paring chisel.

Thanks Martin for that info.

So it looks like I am almost ready to get started on the finish!

Cheers

Greg

Is any grain filling required on the back and sides of the instrument? This needs to be addressed before you start with the french polishing. If you are going to grain fill then there are a few options available to you. I use Zpoxy finishing resin on most of my guitars. A couple of coats neat and then a few coats diluted 50/50 with meths. The Zpoxy is spread on with an old credit card and when its set (I leave it 12 hours) I sand back to bare wood. The diluted coats of zpoxy can be wiped on with a paper towel.

Other in here will chime in with alternative methods for grain filling.

Note: grain filling is not required on spruce tops.

For an excellent tutorial on french polishing check out Robbie Obriens DVD on finishing guitars. Available from GuitarAustralia luthiery supplies (GuitarAust.com.au). Robbies FP method is a bit simpler than other methods Ive seen and he covers filling with Zpoxy as well.