Oh yesss..... Liquid chocolatey goodness. I’ll say it again, if there are no copyright issues, THAT is a bass you could sell more than a few of, if you care to. I can’t believe how quick you put that together. I bow to your mad skills!
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The epoxy finally cured, and I sanded it smooth with 400 grit. I am sick of the epoxy, so I laid on the first coat of clear.
It seems I can lay down a thicker coat with the Floetrol added. We'll see how this pans out, I guess.
It seems I can lay down a thicker coat with the Floetrol added. We'll see how this pans out, I guess.
OK, 5th coat in the series. I'll let this cure overnight, sand with like 600 autonet, and then another 5 coats. Lather, rinse, repeat.
Yes, that's what I've found too. I can lay it on thicker, with less running and sagging. And being on thicker, and slower curing, it's more able to flow out to a smooth surface by itself. Once the water has evaporated off, it's still a relatively thin coat of poly. But it's thick enough that it's smooth, and it's able to smooth out some roughness under it.
Floetrol seems to be the answer to a lot of the problems with the water-base poly finishes.
Based on my first experience with it, I'll have to agree. There was one spot I spray on too thick, or so I thought. It turned white, indicating to me that it was going to run. I got the paper towel handy. But no, it just kinds of flowed out to the surrounding areas. The bass and parts are still pretty smooth, as you said. I barely need to level sand it for tomorrows coats. What a nice difference.
Heh! NOW we know just floetrol, no water! I think I dislocated my shoulders leveling out the Varathane on the Hossenfeffer. Anything thick enough to flow out ran on me. I have another black bass repaint idea in mind, I’ll have to try just floetrol. Are you going full gloss or satin?
Good question. I don't know yet. These coffee table type basses seem to gravitate toward satin, though I've seen some walnut basses that look pretty nice under a gloss. I'll see how my shoulder feels as I level sand...
Kiesel has some pretty amazing high gloss walnut basses. I think curly maple works best with satin, but nice walnut just comes to life under a glassy shine.
I have the 10th coat of clear on the bass.
I've got this weird white line on the volume knob.
I'll have to sand that down and re-coat. Looking at it now, it kinda looks like devil horns. I told you these basses were in cahoots with each other.
I've got this weird white line on the volume knob.
I'll have to sand that down and re-coat. Looking at it now, it kinda looks like devil horns. I told you these basses were in cahoots with each other.
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I just sanded the last set of five coats smooth with 800 grit autonet. It's really amazing how different the ProFinisher lays down with the 4:1 mix of Floetrol. If it weren't for the occasional dust bump, I could literally lay down a few coats and not even have to sand and buff. I was going to do Tung Oil on the new Devil bass build, but now I'm thinking I'll just continue with the ProFinisher/Floetrol mix.
As a side note, I mixed up a bunch the other day, and it totally separates over night, with the Floetrol floating on top of the Profinisher. Since I noticed that, I've given the mixture a little stir or two before filling the spray gun each time.
Because this lays down so much thicker, I may just do two more sets of five coats - today and tomorrow - and then level sand and polish. Normally I was doing 30 coats of clear, I'll do 20 on this one. Even after these 10 coats, I feel I could almost start leveling and polishing now. I think if it weren't for the dust, I could lay down 5 coats and just leave it.
Yeah, I'm pretty well convinced that the Floetrol only mix is the magic secret that we've all been searching for, in getting these water-base polyurethanes to spray well. If some of you would like to try it with Varathane and Target EM9000, we'd like to hear the results.
Another potential magic secret in the works, which Keith discovered: After laying on a bunch of coats of ProFinisher, which were pretty smooth except for some dust, he hand rubbed the finish with a soft cloth, lightly moistened with denatured alcohol. No level sanding at all. No power buffing. And it took off the dust specks and came right up to a beautiful gloss. He's done it on two bodies now, and we were amazed.
The keys are: The cloth must be clean, lint free, and non-abrasive. It's lightly moistened with the alcohol, not soaked.
Here's what I think is going on: The cloth is acting like a finer version of white Scotchbrite. It's not abrasively cutting into the surface, but the weave of the cloth is catching the little nubs sticking up and shearing them off. The alcohol is acting like a lubricant to keep the cloth sliding on the surface.
Another potential magic secret in the works, which Keith discovered: After laying on a bunch of coats of ProFinisher, which were pretty smooth except for some dust, he hand rubbed the finish with a soft cloth, lightly moistened with denatured alcohol. No level sanding at all. No power buffing. And it took off the dust specks and came right up to a beautiful gloss. He's done it on two bodies now, and we were amazed.
The keys are: The cloth must be clean, lint free, and non-abrasive. It's lightly moistened with the alcohol, not soaked.
Here's what I think is going on: The cloth is acting like a finer version of white Scotchbrite. It's not abrasively cutting into the surface, but the weave of the cloth is catching the little nubs sticking up and shearing them off. The alcohol is acting like a lubricant to keep the cloth sliding on the surface.
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So I couldn't get the denatured alcohol technique to work. It seems the alcohol is a mild solvent. As I rubbed with the cloth, it became real sticky, and could never get it smooth and shiny. So on to level sanding.
