UV cured finishes

[B. Howard]

Here is a tutorial on my methods for UV cured guitar finishing.

https://howardguitars.blogspot.com/2...r-guitars.html

[BT55]

This is a well written guide. The safety issues that aren’t always addressed are well covered and explained. Well Done!

[Larkins]

How would you do a spot repair such as a deep scratch that can’t be sanded out using UV cured finishes? I never have luck blending the repaired area and wind up respraying the entire body and then sand/buff to avoid witness lines

[mirwa]

Originally Posted by Larkins

How would you do a spot repair such as a deep scratch that can’t be sanded out using UV cured finishes? I never have luck blending the repaired area and wind up respraying the entire body and then sand/buff to avoid witness lines

Why cant it be sanded out, UV is one of the better finishes to do spot blending with.

220 grit in centre of damage, 1/2 inch outside that 320, 1 inch out 600 scuff. Spray just the damaged area with an air brush feathering just into the 320 area, try to avoid the 600 scuff area, but it’s scuffed just for any minor overspray, cure/ wet sand/buff, anything that was in the 600 scuff area will basically wet sand or buff away

Steve

[mirwa]

This photo, I scrounged up from my Facebook feed from 3 yrs ago

Someone slipped on a high end taylor guitar with a tool when doing a string change.

Localised repair only, no bigger than a dime.

On the left the damage, on the right after finish.




Steve

[B. Howard]

My spot repair method is similar to the one above except for the grits I choose. Sand out an area to buff into about 2 inches farther than the damage with 400 and then scuff up what I need to repair with 220. The key here is in leveling to buff that you do not sand through the existing finish in your blend zone. Personally I have had witness mark issues at 320 grit with these materials and trying to buff in a repair.

[Monsoon1]

How does this compare to a standard poly finish in terms of nick And scratch resistance?

[Larkins]

I’ll give it a shot next time it comes up. Thanks for the tips,

[B. Howard]

Originally Posted by Monsoon1

How does this compare to a standard poly finish in terms of nick And scratch resistance?

Standard poly? Not sure what standard would be as I have used and offered several different poly finishes as have most factories over the years... and then there are all the things the hardware store sells.

Better than minwax or endurovar type stuff hands down! On par with the best 2K or CV systems as far as scratch resistance. Nicks? well if your finish is thick enough to avoid nicks it is too thick for a guitar but those asian things with the .100" thick finish are fairly dent resistant and that is the same material applied at an extreme thickness.


This is the new standard as far as most factories are concerned. Even fender has thrown the towel on nitro, Gibby and Martin won't be far behind.

[Larkins]

Pretty sure Martin is using it now at least for base coats. When I was in the market for UV equipment, I spoke with a guy who built some in cabinets for Martin supposedly

[B. Howard]

Originally Posted by Larkins

Pretty sure Martin is using it now at least for base coats. When I was in the market for UV equipment, I spoke with a guy who built some in cabinets for Martin supposedly

I had heard that as well.... Not surprised as they have actually been passing off a catalyzed lacquer for traditional nitro for a few decades. The old process of paste filler and dry buffing before finish coats was a mess and time consuming.