Wrestling with clear coat

I used spray cans. The initial color came out fine. I started to put clear coat with a spray on Lacquer from rust-oleum. Not the most recommended medium I know, but it was looking nice....until...I switched and started putting on the Tri0ke Glaze (same manufacturer). This worked real nice on the headstock. My next plan of attack is to sand this disaster back down and brush on this water based Poly. I really just want to start putting this thing together. I think when I tried to spray the Triple Glaze I did a few things wrong 1) I had left the can out in the sum the day before. It got really hot. 2) the next day, when I went to spray, the humidity was over 80%. 3) the body was ung from a string amd kept swinging, making it hard to get smooth passes. When I do the poly, it will be inside.Cool. Low humidity. No spray. I just hope I can brush it in smooth.

The main issue I can see on the body is the clouding due to humidity. As the aerosol comes out of the can cold (due to the propellant changing from a liquid to a gas as the pressure is releases, this is the same way air conditioning works) moisture in the air condenses on the droplets and ends up embedded in the finish.

If you hit it with a hair dryer straight away you can fix it while it's still wet - not really recommended, but can get you out of trouble. As the poly is brush on you should avoid this issue - but still pay attention to the recommendations on the can in terms of ideal temp for application. I'm not sure what the difference is between the 2 rustoleum products, but if you use something with a different solvent in it you can have some real problems with wrinkling, crazing and cracking. You should always use a complete system from one manufacturer for priming/colour/clear coats to avoid these problems. I am unsure if the poly will react with the rustoleum. I do know that rustoleum takes months to properly cure - so even if it does go on ok - you may develop issues later on. Personally I would let that harden and block it back and have another shot with the rustoleum clear in better conditions. But if you want to try the poly- maybe test it inside the control cavity first to see if it reacts. You may need to take the whole thing right back and start again unfortunately.

Don't feel bad though, this kind of thing is pretty common and it does take both practice and experience to know what goes with what and how to get a good result.

FWIW I actually quite like rustoleum. Its a pain in terms of drying time and I don't really like the way it comes out of the can, but once its hard, cut and polished the finish feels very 'factory' and it quite hard and resistance to dings and chips.

Hey, Sonic Mountain, thanks for the feedback. Man, I didn’t realize how long it takes for this stuff to cure. How can you tell when it’s ready?

You can sand and buff it after a week or so in good drying conditions. Putting a fan on it is a good idea to blow the solvent gases away from the surface.

Even then will continue to harden and shrink back for a month or so in my experience.

You generally can tell it hard enough if you smell the surface and it doesn’t smell like the paint/solvent.

Don't forget that it doesn't matter that the surface is a bit uneven. You need to put enough clear on so you've got enough thickness so that you can sand it flat and then polish it, without sanding through the clear coat.

Thanks, Simon. I’m going to let it sit for a couple more days before I start sanding. It’s really humid around here(s. New Jersey) and hard to know when it will let up. I have a gig on the 25th, amd was hoping to use it, but it looks like I’ll have to be a little more patient. :(

I've used the Dulux 2 pack before, however it's been discontinued.