Howdy, I have been experimenting with it a good bit. Sorry I don't don't post much I am in the middle of making some big changes with my company and we are saving to run 400 amp service to our second shop while learning Fusin360 and completing builds. While working day job as well.
I will only speak for myself and the results we are looking for from finishing products. I do not like so much for my own personal basses but a high gloss finish I was, am, always seeking to find the absolute most durable, chem resistant, absolute water clear, scratch resistant clear that works well with guitars. Cost, VOCs, I did not care I wanted to have that old pre nitro PRS poly system or as close as we could get ability in our shop for the future. I don't have anything against anything anyone uses as long as it works for them. I had several instances of shipping new commissioned instruments and the finishes were marred by packing material, or something similar in years past. I wanted a more non reactive finish.
So is it worth it....? Depends on what boxes you want to check. I think it's is and I am just in testing stages. I spent 2 times on the phone with the owner and both times almost 15 minutes he was super helpful and he called me back! The owner! Great guy..
To clarify I am not our sprayer. I do all the prep, dyes, sanding and buffing. I am learning how to spray currently. My partner has decades of experience and finally was the one to convince me that if I want Fender custom shop/PRS clear coat results you need to find out what they use and get it (and quit wasting money). I have an account with TCP Global and we use House of Kolor candies, paint and a filler sealer polyester like most going for this type of finish. It's no PPG but the inner coat HOK for any pear, paint, or candies. Then a 2K urethane for top. Pretty mush standard procedure for that type production without UV. Some of the products I buy or did buy from there are dual cure. UV and or MEK for polyester.
For some reference for costs. The products I buy and most guitar builders buy from them in relative terms to the high end automotive products are cheap. I have a good friend and he completely rebuilds old Porsches down to the metal frame and back up again. Lots of the paint/clear he sprays the old school Porsche colors are single stage color and clear mixed. The last 2 gallons was $3,000 a gallon. The clear he buys is around $700 gallon and of course he has to use $2,000 Iwata guns. I have a over a pint of a Porsche 70's mint green metallic mist he gave me I have been saving like a good scotch or something.
HOK clear we have been spraying for a few years is about $300 and would guess about 40% solids. We lay down 3+ mills in a session, next day 1.4 tops left.
He offers a vintage instrument clear (softer), and 2 others for wood super hard (this is Polyester hard UV like G&L and MusicMan UV coatings. They are extremely durable. I even find the sealer filler more durable than the anything I have bought from TCP.
It is 100% solids there is not shrink, I can tell you as far as previously mentioned products it's not even in the same ball park IMO if you want anything like I have described. I tried all those products and did not perform as well as I hoped or if I did get them to work it wasn't consistent results. Never hard enough to polish to glass either IMO.
He is the first guy to get the same hardness and durability in his UV finishes without a high pressure sodium bulb flame throwing out the harmful spectrum of UV rays. I was just about to spend about $4G on a hand held cancer bulb and all that goes with it.
It plays well with all the HOK products. No solvents in to lift anything. I can use the filler sealer. Then spray all traditional urethane based pigments, colors in carrier coat, then use the UV coating on top. You can use it on top of epoxy or MEK cured polyester. It all plays well together.
Thin coats take 2 min of UV to cure yes but to be sure and with all the curves and faces I give it double or more.
Solvents to clean you can use 91% alcohol and mixing up to 10-15% 99% alcohol. No VOC nothing.
Absolute must to have you gun at 70-80 degrees and the product the same. I would say it acts more like thin epoxy then a euro or high solids 2K polyurethane as far as how it moves.
Anyway all depends on you needs. I have to buy gallons of the polyester and clear and most of it has a 6 to 12 month shelf life. I have thrown product away due to our output currently is so small. This stuff you pour back in the bottle.
I think it very well may be the cheapest way you could get to the level of hardness, gloss, durability of the pro clear coats once you factor everything you need and time let alone the environment.
I'm not 100% sold on it yet. We have to finish some more instruments and spray it more. Also I would say if you get the harder version the traditional wheels and compound bars he doesn't recommend. He suggests liquid and cotton wheels. Says the bar compound scratches. I haven't tried to buff out a large area yet with the clear but I can tell already it's like sanding and polishing diamonds.
I don't have anything for sale at the moment and we are booked out for over a year but I still don't know without a commercial status if posting is okay. My next two builds I am working on I thought of using the sealer filler and our normal clear until we get more experience with it. FWIW
You can do a hand rubbed oil feeling finish on a raw neck in 10 minutes that you can pour acetone over and it won't touch the finish. You can dye it with aniline dyes as well like Transtint or Keda. That I tried and it was perfect. I added a drop of orange and med brown and did neck that was great in 30 min. I even sanded some in that time.
