Wet sanding question...

[FretFire]

Alright, I got 3 coats of nitro sprayed on my neck last night, and I know I need to wet sand and then hit it with a tack cloth and naphtha before I apply the next three. My question is, how long do I soak my paper in the mineral spirits before I use it to sand? I'm assuming about an hour, but I could be wrong.

 

[MikeRocker]

Re: Wet sanding question...

That should work, for a lot of my wet sanding (most of which I did on the body) I just dipped dry paper in Mineral Spirits for a couple of seconds, and it worked fine.

 

[FretFire]

Re: Wet sanding question...

Very cool. How often do you dip the paper back in the spirits, or do you keep a bit of fluid on the surface at all times?

 

[MikeRocker]

Re: Wet sanding question...

I would just kind of keep my eye on the paper, and whenever it started to get clogged I'd dip it to rinse it off. If you can't see a build up, I'd just rinse when it starts to dry a little (you can tell by the way it feels).

 

[FretFire]

Re: Wet sanding question...

Excellent. Thanks Mike .

 

[MikeRocker]

Re: Wet sanding question...

Anytime.

 

[FretFire]

Re: Wet sanding question...

Here's a pic I took just after spraying the second coat last night, this is going to turn out great!

 

[MikeRocker]

Re: Wet sanding question...

The Jig!!! How's it working??? And the Plumber's Putty, too...good move! Neck looks amazing, by the way!

 

[FretFire]

Re: Wet sanding question...

The Jig!!! How's it working??? And the Plumber's Putty, too...good move! Neck looks amazing, by the way!

Hehe, thought you might get a kick out of that picture . The jig is actually only being used as a drying stand as I forgot I had the truss adjustment made on the headstock, so there's no place for the fixed dowel to rest and hold securely on the other end. :smack: My bad.

But, I just use the dowel you see through the tuner hole to hang the neck outside while I spray, then use the dowel and the tape on the heel as "handles" to take it back in to the stand haha. It might be ghetto, but it's working wonderfully. The plumber's putty was a great tip too, very easy to work with.

 

[MikeRocker]

Re: Wet sanding question...

Actually one of the necks I did had the truss rod adjustment at the headstock, but there was still an indentation at the other end where I could brace it. Either way, glad it's serving a purpose! :laugh2:

 

[FretFire]

Re: Wet sanding question...

Yeah, I tried it with this neck, but when I picked the jig up and started to turn it over it slipped so I knew not to push it haha. It's definitely coming in very handy.

 

[Cory_Dylan]

Re: Wet sanding question...

NICE! :saeek:

What grit of sandpaper do you guys use? Do you just wet sand it after every 3 coats? How many coats total do you end up putting on the neck? Do you need to use grain filler like S&S on a maple neck before you spray the clear?

 

[FretFire]

Re: Wet sanding question...

NICE! :saeek:

What grit of sandpaper do you guys use? Do you just wet sand it after every 3 coats? How many coats total do you end up putting on the neck? Do you need to use grain filler like S&S on a maple neck before you spray the clear?

I'm going to wet sand a bit tonight with 1000 grit paper, and I'll probably wind up with 9-12 coats on it. I believe maple is tight enough grain that a filler isn't necessary, I didn't apply any to my neck and I don't think they did at USACG before they sent it out either .

 

[MikeRocker]

Re: Wet sanding question...

NICE! :saeek:

What grit of sandpaper do you guys use? Do you just wet sand it after every 3 coats? How many coats total do you end up putting on the neck? Do you need to use grain filler like S&S on a maple neck before you spray the clear?

Check out www.reranch.com You don't have to grain fill maple, it's not a pourous wood. Swamp ash needs grain filler. If I recall, I probably put between 10-20 coats on my necks. I think I used 600 grit sandpaper in between coats and then 1000 up to 2000 after it had cured.

 

[Cory_Dylan]

Re: Wet sanding question...

Cool. So you just sand in between the frets? Is that hard to do?

I'm asking all the questions because I'm working on my own strat project... It's going to be awhile before it's done becuase I'm just buying parts as I get the cash.

 

[FretFire]

Re: Wet sanding question...

Sanding between the frets will probably be one of the trickiest parts, as I'm not sure if you still need to sand with the grain even on top of the finish or not (I'm going to just to be safe). It will just take a bit more patience and time, no biggie.

You need to sand the back/headstock as well. I'm going to stay away from edges and more extreme curves until I have a few more coats on though.

 

[FretFire]

Re: Wet sanding question...

Did a bit of sanding and sprayed 3 more coats. Here's a couple shots taken right after coat 5 was sprayed (they're a bit blurry since the flash was off). Sanding between the frets was an experience... I didn't do so hot higher up but it all evened out beautifully. I have a plan for tomorrow's sanding though.

 

[Cory_Dylan]

Re: Wet sanding question...

You're killin me man!!! That just keeps looking better and better :32: :saeek: :32:

That looks like it's gonna turn out great... that sure beats the hell out of paying $135+ to and from shipping to have it done by someone else. $25-30 to do it yourself sounds a lot better!

 

[FretFire]

Re: Wet sanding question...

Thanks man, yeah I'm definitely glad I decided to try this myself. Pretty encouraging for my first attempt, not as tough as I expected. Depending on how much the wood sucks up tonight, 3 more coats might do it.

 

[bluey@sunni]

Re: Wet sanding question...

Nice work.

As you have learned taking the time to do it right is most rewarding, very Zen.

Just had to lap a hydraulic motor end covers down to remove damage, one end cap had to go down 0.3mm (This is massive!) the other mount end required similar work but to less exacating standards due to dings that a passenger in a Limo would notice. Saved the customer $1000 on a unit that has had more comebacks than Dame Nellie Melba (Do some research!) and brought back the "dead".

Do it once and do it properly, even read the instructions. It's a learning experience.