Acrylic lacquer peeling

[Spress]

Hi all,
This isn't a problem with a Pitbull guitar. I actually bought a cheap eBay kit for my first build so it isn't such a kick in the guts when something goes wrong.

So anyway, something went wrong.

I stained the neck and headstock using Feast and Watson stain, and applied a shellac to the back of the neck which came up pretty good. I then read somewhere that shellac is basically a good 'undercoat' for almost any finish. So I applied some shellac (feast and Watson French polish) to the front of the headstock prior to applying an acrylic lacquer clear coat. After a few coats and plenty of time to dry I thought the clear topcoat looked pretty good and went to peel off the masking tape to wet sand.
Basically, the acrylic clear I had applied peeled straight off. Does anyone have any advice for me as to why this happened?
I'm pretty sure the F&W polish is a dewaxed shellac, but if it isn't I guess that would be the problem.

Is my only solution here to sand everything back and start again?

Happy for any advice here guys.

Cheers


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[Richy17]

Did you sand or scuff the surface after the French polish?

[Spress]

No. Could it really be that simple?



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[Richy17]

Yes, Clearcoat (and any other paint for that matter) requires a tooth on the surface for it to stick. You should rub it with some 000 steel wool or fine sand paper prior to clear coat.

Another thing that can cause peeling is waiting too long before unmasking but this is more common with thicker/harder urethane finishes rather than Acrylic.

Also when unmasking, Peel the tape back against itself slowly so that it cuts the edge of the paint. Don't pull it off like a band-aid

Hope this helps

[Simon Barden]

The other things to beware of when spraying are spraying when it's too cold or too humid (or both). The evaporating paint solvent cool the paint and air around it down even further and you can get moisture droplets forming which both reduce the paint's adhesion and also cloud the finish.

[king casey]

I tried FW wipe-on-poly over an Ironlak brand paint, and it peeled off like glad-wrap when dried.

Tried FW over Molotow brand paint with no ill effects at all.

I guess some brands are compatible and others not.

cheers, Mark.

[Spress]

Thanks for all the pointers guys, I'll try a light sand and go again. See if I still have the same problem.

Was very disappointed when I noticed a slight mark near the edge of the clear and then could take off big chunks with my fingernail.
I had thought the neck was pretty much done.

It's all a good learning experience anyway, and it gives me another chance to practice with the spray gun.


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[Spress]

Thanks for the advice guys. I sanded it back completely, restained and redid the acrylic clear and it worked fine



Finished the whole thing off today and I'm very happy with how it turned out. It even sounds ok through the little amp that I have. Hope my son likes it.





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[Sonic Mountain]

Great looking guitar!

[blinddrew]

That has come up very nicely