poly cure time?

[Hippiejoe]

I just defreted my "stagg" jazz bass, and i put 7 coats of poly on the neck to protect it because i plan on using rounds for the brighter tone they give off, and i was wondering how long i should wait for it to cure before i slap the new strings on

i dont want to cause any neck damage i dont need too, and im getting mixed signals for the cure time, it says 24 hours for the last coat on the instructions but ive been hearing 2 days to 2 weeks

any help?

[phsycobass]

how long did you leave between coats? if you left 6 hours or more between coats, it should cure after about 24 hours. Maybe give it a few extra hours just to be sure

[62bass]

Curing completely and drying are two different things

It may be dry enough to touch or even to sand in a few hours but a full hard cure can take 2-3 weeks

Give it at least a week in a warm room and you should be fine

It'll be mostly cured by then

[Hippiejoe]

allright thanks guys, its allready been about 3 days but i'll give it a tad more time

[keyboardguy]

I went to the Minwax forum; recommend a few weeks. Read on::

""Last week I stripped, restained, and put two coats of poly on a desk. I finished putting the last coat of poly on last Saturday morning. I was wondering how long I should wait before putting the protective piece of glass back on the top without worry of it sticking to the poly? Also, how long should I wait to put the hardware back on? I was going to wait a week for both. Is this long enough or is more time required?""""

Answer: """Do not put glass on until the finish loses all its odor. Could be 3-4 weeks at least. Oil based based finish takes that long to cure. If you put glass on top, it will prevent the oxygen needed for curing from getting to the finish.""""
-------------------

So The Minwax people say
""Your nose will tell you when the curing has essentially been completed. At that time, the finish will stop off-gassing and the finish odor will stop."""


Hope this helps


Mike