Guitar project question... Polishing up nitro to a nice gloss finish

Mr Wolf

Mr Wolf

New member
Hi all I hope you can help. Been working on my first project for quite a while (learning many lessons along the way!) to make a Tele blank into a La Cabronita Especial.

Having managed many errors with nitrocellulose aerosols for the paint layer and the clear gloss I have now sanded it back working up to 1500 grit wet and dry and now I finally feel ready to move onwards. That said, using 1500 it is nice and smooth however on close inspection you can still see fine swirls in the finish. What do you usually use to buff the finish into a nice gloss?

Thanks in advance

Jeff
 
Re: Guitar project question... Polishing up nitro to a nice gloss finish

I used a finish buffing compound that turtle wax makes for removing swirls and oxidation on cars. It worked great for me.
 
Re: Guitar project question... Polishing up nitro to a nice gloss finish

Red buffing compound first, followed by white polish. After that, I clean the polish off with mineral spirits.

The speed of the buffer is very important. The regular cheap fixed-speed buffers sold for polishing cars are too fast (e.g. Craftsman or similar). Ideally, you want something adjustable that can be set as low as 500 – 1,000 RPM. They are worth renting if you can't afford to buy one; you don't want to put one of those 2,000 – 3,000 RPM cheap-os to a fragile lacquer finish that you've spend weeks on!

Also, you shouldn't be sanding wet and dry at that late of a stage in the finish – only wet. If you have been dry sanding your clear coats, I wouldn't expect a buffer to help you out much. Start again with 400 wet, and work up to at least 800 wet before buffing (I go up to 2,400, though that isn't really necessary). Also, "wet" is best with mineral spirits IME. It lubricates the sanding motion better, and it also won't swell up the wood if it seeps into screw holes and the like.
 
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Re: Guitar project question... Polishing up nitro to a nice gloss finish

I actually did the buffing by hand. Probably takes a lot longer, but I felt it was much safer.
 
Re: Guitar project question... Polishing up nitro to a nice gloss finish

Buffing by hand never gets the same level of gloss
 
Re: Guitar project question... Polishing up nitro to a nice gloss finish

This all for the input. Itsabass - have been sanding wet. Really now it is just a case of finishing it off to get it nice and shiny. I have picked up some Turtlewax stuff as suggested by autologic. I shall see how I get on with that.

Thanks again
 
Re: Guitar project question... Polishing up nitro to a nice gloss finish

DSC_0245.jpg

My bad! Here it is with the neck slotted into the pocket. Plan to install a TV Jones power'tron plus.
 
Re: Guitar project question... Polishing up nitro to a nice gloss finish

Mr Wolf said:
View attachment 60579

My bad! Here it is with the neck slotted into the pocket. Plan to install a TV Jones power'tron plus.
Click to expand...

Awesome! I want me a one pickup la cab! I love TV Jones pickups, that thing is gonna RAWK! also make sure you use silicon free polish as the silicon can cause problems if you want to refinish it in the future.
 
Re: Guitar project question... Polishing up nitro to a nice gloss finish

oh sheeeet that looks hot
 
Re: Guitar project question... Polishing up nitro to a nice gloss finish

If you've wet sanded to 1500 grit, do NOT start polishing yet...you will end up with very shiny sanding scratches. You need to use 2000, then 4000 or even 6000 grit before using polishing compounds (I usually go up to 8000 grit before polishing). It's more work to do the extra sanding, but compared to all the work you have already put into the guitar, it's only slightly more work, but will yield much greater final results. It's a shame to get all finished and strung up and playing and then notice all the tiny scratches and wish you'd taken just a little more effort to get it perfect.

A couple of times I have felt such regret for skipping the final sanding steps that I was compelled to take the guitar all apart and do more sanding with 2000, 4000, and 6000 grit (and sometimes even up to 8000), then repeat the polishing with at least two successively finer polishing compounds ending up with an extremely fine swirl remover. It would have been WAY quicker and easier to have done it right the first time!
 
Re: Guitar project question... Polishing up nitro to a nice gloss finish

PS: Always finish up hand polishing/buffing.
 
Re: Guitar project question... Polishing up nitro to a nice gloss finish

Thanks Guitardoc. Managed a fairly good finish. I used a rubbing compound followed by some posh car polish which seems to have done alright. Thanks all for the complimentary words. See attached for a progress report! Unfortunately on installing the neck the strings are getting killed off at the high frets i.e. The neck angle needs sorting... A job I'll leave for the pros!
 
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