Solid colour finish

[JoeyR]

Hi everyone, this is my first proper post on here, I've been scouring these forums for the past few days and I have so many questions seeing as I have very, very basic woodworking skills. I want to get all the information I can before I start to give myself the best chance.

My first build is going to be a standard telecaster. I've looked over the "How to build your guitar kit" threads but couldn't find anything definitive and step by step on solid body colours with a smooth finish.
The first thing I do when starting to finish the body and neck would be, I'm guessing, is to sand? I've heard things about using Timbermate to fill in pores and such but what is the procedure? Which should I do first? Which grade of sandpaper should I start and finish at? When should I wet sand if at all? If I'm rasping my headstock what's the best way to get that smooth again? Does the neck need Timbermate as well? Does it need to be stained or can I finish it in a clear coat? The colour I have chosen in Montana Hardcore 2 in Max Green but it's a gloss colour, will there be any extra steps I have to take? If I want the finish to be sort of satin what's the procedure there?

Ah sorry for all the questions! I just like to be absolutely sure!
Thank you

[Island_Moose]

Hey Joey,

I'm about to begin a TL-1 kit build, with a solid colour finish.

Definitely the first step is sanding, using a sanding block and 320grit sandpaper, work the entire guitar along the grain, it should take you a few evenings to complete this step.

The use of grain/pore filler depends on the wood, basswood and maple don't need this step, but ash, and mahogany certainly do. Once you complete your initial sanding, you apply the wood filler in a thin layer over the entire guitar (with a plastic spreader preferably). Once it has cured, you then get out your sanding block and 320grit paper again and repeat step one, another few evenings.

What you are trying to do is level the surface, no high spots, no low spots. Low spots can be filled with grain filler to a point (under 1/2mm).

Once you have a level surface, free of all irregularities, you then have a choice to make, do you apply a primer coat or go straight to colour coat. I prefer primer coats, because I feel it binds the layers together, and it also gives you a chance to see any last problems in the surface.

My painting routine will be:

2 coats high build primer
(sand)
6 coats enamel

All sprayed with an HVLP gun set to maximum paint flow, inlet pressure about 25psi.

Once the final coat of colour has cured for a week or two, I'll then wet sand through a range of grits, 600-800-1500-2000 until I achieve a uniformly-dull surface. I'll then use a random orbital polisher and bonnet (3"), and work through 3 liquid compounds (3m cutting compound, 3M Finesse-it swirl remover, 3M glazing), then several coats of automotive wax.

If you want a satin finish rather than full gloss, the best idea is to add a "flattener" to your paint. Flattener is just silica, because the only difference between gloss and satin and matte is the regularity or irregularity of the surface at a microscopic level. Introducing silica makes the surface rougher, thereby reducing gloss. Add enough and you will get a matte finish.

Could you just sand it and not polish?...if you wanted matter perhaps, but satin is tricky.

It should take about 2 months all up.

In the meantime, you must dress your frets, sand, stain, or just clear-coat your neck after shaping the headstock, do your wiring, etc etc etc.

I started my FS-1 in May, and I hope to present it in October, though French-polishing an FS-1 is significantly more involved than a TL-1.

[gavinturner]

Hey Joey,

great advice from moose. If you are going to use rattle cans, first make sure your colour and clear coats are compatible. Sand as much as you can to begin with. Personally for solid colour I sand 120, 180, 240, 360, 400. Then fill the grain with Timbermate and sand back with 400. You can do this more than once if need be to give a nice smooth surface. Now a couple of primer coats. Wet sand the primer back with 600 to remove a bit of the Orange peel. Now color coats. You need just enough for coverage. Don't overdo the coats! Now clear coats. You will need to build up enough to allow for wet sanding later on. After you have a few coats on, level the surface by wet sanding with 600 grit. Be careful not to sand through. Now a couple more clear coats and allow it to hang and fully cure. Wet sand with 1500 and 2000 grit. The finish should be nice and matte at this stage. For gloss finish go on with Meguiars compounds.

hope this helps.

cheers,
Gavin.

[JoeyR]

Hi, Gavin thanks for your reply, If I'm not wrong you're the person who made the surf-green telecaster using MTN 94 colours? Which clear did you use for that?

[JoeyR]

Thanks Island Moose, what sort of plastic spreader do you use? Like a squegee?

[JoeyR]

I've also heard about wiping the wood with a wet rag and waiting for it to dry to raise some of the wood grain to sand it finer, when should I do that if at all?

Thanks

[Island_Moose]

Yes, a simple plastic squeegee. Raising the grain is not likely necessary, the sanding will deal with anything.

[dingobass]

One thing you do need to be careful of is over sanding..
Basically when you go fine (400 - 1000) on bare timber you begin to polish the timber.
So as Gav said, no more than 400 grit for filled and painted timber.

I do damp rag after 400 grit sanding, but only when I am satisfied with the sanding.
A quick once over to raise all those pesky fibres that are laying down and then a light go over with 400 grit.

[dingobass]

Also, check out Jarrods video on spray painting. Its in the video guides

[gavinturner]

For clear coats over the MTN94 I used acrylic auto clear. I have also used White Knight gloss acrylic over it, and this is my current default. It's good stuff and easy to use.

cheers,
Gav.