[AmazinAzian12]

Hello!

So I am now in the primer stage of my swirl project and wanted to know about going about the last step of painting the guitar. The Clear coat. I am only home for a few more weeks and we should be swirling the guitar this weekend once the primer dries. I have been reading around and have been seeing that it takes months for the clear coat to fully cure before you can wet sand it and finish it. Well, I don't have a couple months because I am going back to college in less than a month.

So I started searching around for a way to cut the drying time in half or even more than that. And all that I found was an article from Taylor guitars talking about UV top coats. They stick the guitar in a sort of UV emitting oven and in minutes the special UV clear coat is dried, cured, and you can wet sand it right away. Where do I go about getting this super fast drying clear coat? Is it more expensive than regular lacquer? If so, how much more? I don't have a UV oven so how would I dry it? Could I just take it to a tanning store and stick it on a tanning bed?? It sounds stupid I know but I really don't want to end up not being able to bring my newly swirled guitar to college.

Any help is really appreciated!!

 

[andrewsfury]

just use urethane 2k clear you can wetsand and buff the next day.
even the cheap acme urethane dries enough to wetsand and buff the next day.
check out extremeswirls.com all my swirls i cleared and buffed the next day.
get highsolid it goes on thicker.

 

[AmazinAzian12]

just use urethane 2k clear you can wetsand and buff the next day.
even the cheap acme urethane dries enough to wetsand and buff the next day.
check out extremeswirls.com all my swirls i cleared and buffed the next day.
get highsolid it goes on thicker.

Care to link to the brands you use? Do they sell them at any local Home Depot or Lowe's??

 

[ibanezcollector]

get Krylon Fusion its available everywhere, isnt as harmful, still need a mask, dries pretty fast, and cures to a rock in like 7 days. Wet sands to a ultra high shine too.

 

[andrewsfury]

Care to link to the brands you use? Do they sell them at any local Home Depot or Lowe's??

i get mine froma a paint supply .
ask a local autobody shop they can lead you in the right direction.
its not high maybe like 60.00 for clear and hardner and get free strainer.
i get mine from a local dealer .
advanced autoparts and autozone has it too.
dont do rattle can clear it will take forever to get enogh build to level the swirl texture.
i use acme highsolid clear dires fast and i can buff and wetsand the next day.

 

[ibanezcollector]

$14 worth of Krylon and knowing what your doing that is the street outside my shop about 30 foot away, not a light bulb above.. That is how you do a mirror finish

 

[AmazinAzian12]

$14 worth of Krylon and knowing what your doing that is the street outside my shop about 30 foot away, not a light bulb above.. That is how you do a mirror finish

I am looking on Home Depot and Lowes' websites and they only seem to carry Rust-oleum and other brands but not Krylon. There is an auto parts store by my house called O'Reilly Auto Parts and they sell cans of Krylon Clear but it isn't the Fusion type you suggested. Should I just go and order them online? You are suggesting this specific type and clear right?

http://www.thetoolworkshop.com/krylonconsumerdivglsclearspraypaint2444.aspx

 

[ibanezcollector]

yes you want krylon fusion clear, it really is a fantastic clear that you need $0 money to shoot and get professional results ive been painting guitars for 20 years and its wonderful clear hope they never discontinue it, and its durable as hell after about 7 days.

you can find a retailer(s) around you on their site.

 

[AmazinAzian12]

yes you want krylon fusion clear, it really is a fantastic clear that you need $0 money to shoot and get professional results ive been painting guitars for 20 years and its wonderful clear hope they never discontinue it, and its durable as hell after about 7 days.

you can find a retailer(s) around you on their site.

~facepalm~ duh! walmart has it! Thanks so much. I will go and get some this week! How many cans do you think I need for one whole guitar?? Any tips when applying the clear coat??

 

[ibanezcollector]

I use three cans per body, you want to make smooth passes sorta applying it wet just at the edge of dripping, this takes some practice but if you just do smooth passes and evenly you should be able to wetsand with no issues and it will bury the swirl enough to get a nice beautiful shine as above.

 

[AmazinAzian12]

I use three cans per body, you want to make smooth passes sorta applying it wet just at the edge of dripping, this takes some practice but if you just do smooth passes and evenly you should be able to wetsand with no issues and it will bury the swirl enough to get a nice beautiful shine as above.

Awesome. Again, thanks so much. I will have pictures of the project hopefully next week.

 

[seanrg]

Hey ibanezcollector,
Do you know if the krylon clear will work on a stained finish?
Im about ready to clear a project and im not looking to spend a lot of $$$

 

[andrewsfury]

$14 worth of Krylon and knowing what your doing that is the street outside my shop about 30 foot away, not a light bulb above.. That is how you do a mirror finish

Hey i use to use the krylon clear it is cheap and easy.
But i have had the swirl peal right off after a year expecially near the edges and no matter how good you think it is watch ,it will come off and urethane is rock hard and WILL last alot longer . p.s. my camera sucks and true daylight shots are over exposed thats why i have a light shot on mine which are just as nice looking.Ask my actual customers who have seen them.

 

[ibanezcollector]

never had a issue with it got some yoyos cleared which get way more abuse then a guitar for over 2 years with no issues.

not saying your wrong andrew so no need to get defensive, but ive been painting for a very long time

 

[andrewsfury]

never had a issue with it got some yoyos cleared which get way more abuse then a guitar for over 2 years with no issues.

not saying your wrong andrew so no need to get defensive, but ive been painting for a very long time

Thats cool bro we are both just trying to help.

 

[AmazinAzian12]

Could it have been because the amount of clear coat you used?

 

[TMatt142]

Doesn't it matter what type of paint you used. I mean, will the Krylon clear react with certain types of paint?

 

[ibanezcollector]

Any paint can have reactions to other paints, the Krylon will work with Humbrol but the first few coats need to be misted on before going to wet coats.

Any paint should ALWAYS be tested on a scrap piece before hand to check compatibility.

 

[AmazinAzian12]

Any paint can have reactions to other paints, the Krylon will work with Humbrol but the first few coats need to be misted on before going to wet coats.

Any paint should ALWAYS be tested on a scrap piece before hand to check compatibility.

Awesome. Thanks for that tip. I just finished swirling my guitar and am going to clear coat it tomorrow. I am uploading some photos and will create a separate thread.

 

[ibanezcollector]

what did you swirl it with?? what paint?

Rule #1 to a good finish is patience dont rush anything.

If you used Humbrol paint let it dry for a week