Catalyzed Conversion Varnish?

[Max Bogosity]

My only reservation is that the quality of surface finish that's common on furniture is not in the same league as what we expect on an instrument with a gloss finish. If that's what you want, you ought to discuss it with them and maybe show an example to make sure you have the same expectations.

 

[Beej]

My only reservation is that the quality of surface finish that's common on furniture is not in the same league as what we expect on an instrument with a gloss finish. If that's what you want, you ought to discuss it with them and maybe show an example to make sure you have the same expectations.

That's a good point, I don't usually wet-sand and buff furniture, but I do on musical instruments.

 

[Rôckhewer]

That's a good point, I don't usually wet-sand and buff furniture, but I do on musical instruments.

Excellent point!.
But I figure that an Amish shop who's been spraying CV for a decade...
Has crested that learning curve, and can lay that product down to flow out with minimal orange peel. To the satisfaction of furniture clientele?
There would be minimal cut, rub buff required.

 

[kirkdickinson]

Here is a table my brother just built that was finished with conversion varnish at the Amish place.

Before finish.

 

[Big B.]

I'm a fan of conversion varnish. As long as its being applied well its a beautiful and durable finish. As far as the surface quality, as long as they are spraying coats clean of particles and dust the surface quality will come from the wetsanding and polishing. Conversion varnish dries fairly hard which makes it easy to polish up to a mirror gloss. This bass was done with Sherwin Williams conversion varnish buffed out to a high gloss. I'm the same as Rockhewer, I spray it outside with a relatively cheap compressor and the 25$ gun from harbor freight. If these guys have a full finish room setup and are experienced with applying it then it should turn out great.

 

[kirkdickinson]

I'm a fan of conversion varnish. As long as its being applied well its a beautiful and durable finish. As far as the surface quality, as long as they are spraying coats clean of particles and dust the surface quality will come from the wetsanding and polishing. Conversion varnish dries fairly hard which makes it easy to polish up to a mirror gloss. This bass was done with Sherwin Williams conversion varnish buffed out to a high gloss. I'm the same as Rockhewer, I spray it outside with a relatively cheap compressor and the 25$ gun from harbor freight. If these guys have a full finish room setup and are experienced with applying it then it should turn out great.

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Beautiful. Did you make it? What is the top, bocote? What pickups are in there? Can you explain the knobs and switches?

 

[Big B.]

Beautiful. Did you make it? What is the top, bocote? What pickups are in there? Can you explain the knobs and switches?

I did make it. The top is Ziricote which is not too dissimilar from bocote and comes from the same general part of the world.

The pickups are Zen Blades from Nordstrand with a 3 band Nordstrand preamp. The 3 large knobs are volume, pickup blend, and a fender style passive tone knob. The 3 small knobs are the bass, mid, and treble controls for the the preamp, and the switches are series/parallel coil switches for the pickups.

 

[kirkdickinson]

I did make it. The top is Ziricote which is not too dissimilar from bocote and comes from the same general part of the world.

The pickups are Zen Blades from Nordstrand with a 3 band Nordstrand preamp. The 3 large knobs are volume, pickup blend, and a fender style passive tone knob. The 3 small knobs are the bass, mid, and treble controls for the the preamp, and the switches are series/parallel coil switches for the pickups.

do you have an active passive control for the fender blend, or does that work passively after the nord pre?

do you like the zen blades?

I still haven’t decided for sure on my pickups. Leaning toward a Nordstrand P/J noiseless set. Pickups into an Audere pre in addition to Ghost piezo and pre.

 

[Big B.]

do you have an active passive control for the fender blend, or does that work passively after the nord pre?

do you like the zen blades?

I still haven’t decided for sure on my pickups. Leaning toward a Nordstrand P/J noiseless set. Pickups into an Audere pre in addition to Ghost piezo and pre.

It gets wired off of the volume knob just like a Pbass and a separate wire runs from the volume to the preamp. The wiring chain would be pickups - coil switches - blend knob - volume knob (tied to the the passive tone) - active preamp - output jack. Because the tone knob is tied to the volume it will function whether you have the bass in active or passive. I'm really surprised more companies don't wire a tone knob into their active setups. You can set your baseline tone with the active eq at the beginning of the show and then use the tone knob to tweak your sound for what each song needs.

The Zen Blades I'm a big fan of. I use them as the standard pickup in my basses now. They are definitely modern sounding, tight and quick, with crisp highs and a healthy low end. They've gone over really well with my gospel playing customers especially but I've yet to hear someone actually not like them. The other pickup I consider a good alternate to the Zen Blades are the Nordstrand dual coils. They have the same general Nord tone but the sweetness is more in the high mids, with less emphasize on the highs. A more warm, thick sound but still very defined.

 

[hbarcat]

My brother says they have huge fans in the spray area and the guy spraying wears a suit and a respirator.

It's poisonous as all get out to work with, so handing that off to a (one hopes properly setup) production shop seems like a good way to get it done.

Catalyzed finishes MUST be sprayed by a qualified professional painter who has a proper spray booth and certified respirator because failure to follow exact procedures during painting can be fatal. People die every year breathing in small amounts of fumes, thinking they'll be okay, but they're not.

Think of spraying catalyzed finishes as being like spaying a thick, wet "superglue" mist into the air. If you breathe any of the vapors, it essentially solidifies instantly upon hitting your lungs, turning into a thick, hard plastic.

Just a small amount will make you very short of breath and feel like you're suffocating. Larger amounts will clog up your lungs with hardened paint and you will suffocate and die in a matter of minutes.

One of my former coworkers in an automotive body shop died this way. His respirator wasn't sealing properly and he assumed he could get away with it because it didn't seem like too bad of a leak. He was mistaken.

I repeat: Catelyzed finishes MUST be applied by certified professional painters only. DIY amateurs who feel they can safely use the stuff just by being careful and using "common sense" are basically taunting death. Proper training and experience are required, along with specialized, certified equipment.

 

[kirkdickinson]

Catalyzed finishes MUST be sprayed by a qualified professional painter who has a proper spray booth and certified respirator because failure to follow exact procedures during painting can be fatal. People die every year breathing in small amounts of fumes, thinking they'll be okay, but they're not.

Think of spraying catalyzed finishes as being like spaying a thick, wet "superglue" mist into the air. If you breathe any of the vapors, it essentially solidifies instantly upon hitting your lungs, turning into a thick, hard plastic.

Just a small amount will make you very short of breath and feel like you're suffocating. Larger amounts will clog up your lungs with hardened paint and you will suffocate and die in a matter of minutes.

One of my former coworkers in an automotive body shop died this way. His respirator wasn't sealing properly and he assumed he could get away with it because it didn't seem like too bad of a leak. He was mistaken.

I repeat: Catelyzed finishes MUST be applied by certified professional painters only. DIY amateurs who feel they can safely use the stuff just by being careful and using "common sense" are basically taunting death. Proper training and experience are required, along with specialized, certified equipment.

I am not even considering spaying it myself. This is a pro finish shop that applies finishes for dozens of small Amish furniture and cabinet builders. And have been doing finishing for decades.