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nitrocellulose paint ... how many coats ??

#5
I just repainted my jazz bass Daphne blue with reranch. Took it down to natural wood, applied some clear wood finish, then a single coat of spray poly. I then sprayed 3 layers with reranch white primer and then about 4.5 layers of reranch daphne blue. I sanded smooth and then touched up any areas. Lastly was a single layer of nitro clear coat.

Personally I feel like it could have been more for a spectacular finish, but I want it to wear with age and use, so less layers for me.
 
#6
david meissner said:
i purchased an unfinished '54 P-Bass body { alder }
from Warmoth and have sprayed it with antique white from ReRanch .

i've already sprayed three coats , and it looks terrific ...

i guess my question is , about how many coats of paint do you usually use for your projects ?
:confused:
Click to expand...

The number of coats all depends on how well the nitro went on in the first place. If 3 coats went on easily in a perfect temp/humidity, dust-free environment and won't require any wet sand or buff, I'd say 3 is enough and you are either the most skilled finisher in the world or the luckiest!


But........

If the coats were applied with a rattle can, I suspect that you will have to do a fair amount of sanding to level off the finish.

If you have only applied 3 coats, be careful if you buff the finish. Being so thin, there will be a danger of buffing through the finish if you are too agressive.

My last nitro finish went 7 coats . If it were me, I'd get a couple more coats of finish on the body and take the time to do a nice wet sand and hand buff.......With a little time and effort, your body will look better than a factory finish.
 
#7
Since you're doing Reranch products, seems to me you should get a lot more familiar with reranch 101

http://reranch.com/101a.htm

If you're going the sraycan route you'll have to put a crapload of coats on it if you want it to last you a long time. I use a spraygun rig and when I shoot nitro I'll do a minimum of 8 double coats of lacquer. Bear in mind I spray the lacquer a whole lot thicker than a spraycan does.
 
#8
Tdog said:
The number of coats all depends on how well the nitro went on in the first place...

If the coats were applied with a rattle can, I suspect that you will have to do a fair amount of sanding to level off the finish.

If you have only applied 3 coats, be careful if you buff the finish. Being so thin, there will be a danger of buffing through the finish if you are too agressive.

My last nitro finish went 7 coats . If it were me, I'd get a couple more coats of finish on the body and take the time to do a nice wet sand and hand buff.......
With a little time and effort, your body will look better than a factory finish.
Click to expand...
thanks !
that's what i was looking for , some real world "rattle can" advice !!
:D
since i am doing this for the long haul , and not just for a relic type finish ,
i've decided to shoot at least 7or 8 coats ... and just applied coat # 4 this morning .

i'm applying 1 coat per day , and then doing some light wet sanding ...


wet sanding with # 600 paper between coats , does seem to give a really nice , smooth finish .
Phil Mailloux said:
Since you're doing Reranch products, seems to me you should get a lot more familiar with reranch 101

http://reranch.com/101a.htm

If you're going the sraycan route you'll have to put a crapload of coats on it if you want it to last you a long time.
I use a spraygun rig and when I shoot nitro I'll do a minimum of 8 double coats of lacquer.
Bear in mind I spray the lacquer a whole lot thicker than a spraycan does.
Click to expand...
thanks again !!
see my above response ... :D
 
#12
This is all very helpful as I'm also refinishing a SX jazz in Olympic White Nitro!

I'm going to use 4 coats on the body with one coat of Nitro Satin Clear, then about 2 coats on the headstock with a custom decal and 4-5 coats nitro satin clear

This is a total noob question (im 16 and doing my first refinish), but what exactly is wet sanding?
 
#15
sprayed 8 coats of Oly White { wet sanded between each coat }
and finished with 2 coats of clear coat nitro sealer .

here it is ... sorry for the flash.
5154fenderjpg012.gif


these last two shots are actually closer to the true finished color ...
5154fenderjpg015.gif


5154fenderjpg005.gif


sorry for the crappy photo quality ...:ninja:
 
#17
First let me say nice job on the bass.

Ok I'll admit it. I skimmed, so if I'm covering something that's already been mentioned, ignore me. I've done several guitars and basses. I used primarily reranch products and hang on the ranch forum alot. For color coats in general spray enough to cover the primer. It will vary depending on the color you are using and how opaque the paint is. I do not sand color coats unless a small dog or bird or something obvious gets caught in the finish. he reason is that nitro melts the previous coat that was applied, and in effect they blend into one coat. Follow that up with 2... YES 2 cans of clear nitro. The reason is because you will be removing quite a bit if you are wetsanding to a gloss finish. In the end if your prep work is good you will have a nice glass smooth shine.
 
#18
ThaLowEndTheory said:
First let me say nice job on the bass.

Ok I'll admit it. I skimmed, so if I'm covering something that's already been mentioned, ignore me. I've done several guitars and basses. I used primarily reranch products and hang on the ranch forum alot. For color coats in general spray enough to cover the primer. It will vary depending on the color you are using and how opaque the paint is. I do not sand color coats unless a small dog or bird or something obvious gets caught in the finish. he reason is that nitro melts the previous coat that was applied, and in effect they blend into one coat. Follow that up with 2... YES 2 cans of clear nitro. The reason is because you will be removing quite a bit if you are wetsanding to a gloss finish. In the end if your prep work is good you will have a nice glass smooth shine.
Click to expand...

What if you want a kinda relic look? Two coats of color nitro and two coats of clear? Im not looking for a shiny new factory finish really. So just wet sand the first clear coat and buff the second coat? Total newbie at this ;)
 

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