Matt's WL-1 build

[mjg]

It's the super cheap auto primer filler. The one with the light blue cap.

I'll give it another go tomorrow and try the nozzle trick, thanks.

[wokkaboy]

no worries Matt. I find I get quite a few dud can's if they are in the cheaper range. When you finish spraying you should turn the can upside down and give it a squirt clears debris in the nozzle.
Also if it's cold worth soaking the can in warm water for about 15-30 mins before, then shake

[mjg]

I waited til about 2pm to spray today, what with our lovely maximum temp of 16. I had pre warmed the cans in the sun for half an hour. So yeah maybe it was a bit of a dud, or maybe I'm not shaking them long enough to start with a full can.

That's another question I have...the guitar is drying in the garage between coats. Anything bad going to happen if the overnight temp is getting down to -2 or so? Should I be bringing it inside at night? Wrapping it up with a hot water bottle, etc?

[Kick]

I think it would be the best to keep it inside with those temperatures...

[wokkaboy]

hey Matt, yes if the temp is dropping below zero I'd hang it from the shower curtain rails inside

I forgot you are in Canberra !

[mjg]

Looks like we have some warmer weather for the rest of the week - only getting down to 4 or 5 overnight. Lol.

[mjg]

OK, attempt number 3 at the primer sanding has started. Not sanding through to the wood yet, so that seems to be progress.

I'm getting it nice and flat, and removing the obvious orange peel pattern. I am working on it in the sunshine today, so I'm seeing a lot more detail on the paint surface. It has a pattern of tiny microscopic bubbles on the surface, which don't seem to go away no matter how much I sand. Is that normal, or do I need to get rid of them too?

I suspect I need to keep sanding.

Zoomed right in with the camera to show the detail...

[mjg]

We've flipped it over and had a go at the front. It's come up beautifully, nice and smooth, and no sign of these little bubbles.

If my memory serves me correctly (and it might not, I have been spraying paint lately...) I think that the back copped all of the dry spray yesterday, while the front got nice wet stuff. So maybe the dry spray hasn't mixed properly and there were bubbles? I'm only guessing, as this is all new to me.

Time to respray the back again?

Anyway, at least it is progress - the front of the guitar may actually be ready for colour now... just need to fix the back, and then sand the sides.

[Simon Barden]

I'd respray the back. There's no reason that it shouldn't be as smooth as the front.

[mjg]

Thanks Simon.

What I did yesterday was to keep sanding on the back. In the end I had to sand it basically back to the previous coat before those bubbles disappeared. But the good news is that it now looks good on the back (and front). Just have to carefully sand the sides now (and the sides don't show any of this bubble effect. It was just the back).

My guess is that I didn't have it mixed enough when spraying the back... it seemed to have those little gas bubbles all through the paint. Or did I put too much on, trying to compensate for the weird crap it was putting out? No idea.

I'm a bit hesitant to spray more primer now... I can't work out what I'm doing wrong to get such variation in the result. If I don't pick up another can of primer in my life, I'll be happy.