anyone ever do a flat/matte finish?

[dmraco]

My son wants me to do a matte/flat finish on a bass I am making for him.  I have done this with dyes and a satin poly that I put on so thin I never even final sanded because I wanted a finish where the gain was felt.  I want this finish to be smooth.  It will also be painted.

If I use a satin nitro, how should I wet sand and buff?  If I polish too much, will it become glossy?

HEre is the finish I am trying to achieve.

same finish but black.

thanks

 

[swarfrat]

Both extreme gloss and extreme matte tend to show smudges. Stealth bomber matte black tends to show shiny spots where you touch it. They show as smudges on gloss, but gloss wipes up easier. With matte all you can do is spread it around until you don't really notice so much. But you can touch it up easy without worrying so much about blending.

That said - I think you'd want to all the prep you would normally do, then use a flat paint, and either don't sand the final coat, or stop at a fine grade like you might use for surface sanding, rather than finishing - like 200-400 equivalent.

 

[Updown]

Here's a Satin matte Black SG from the Gallery
http://www.warmoth.com/Gallery/GalleryEntry.aspx?id=2615

 

[Phinox]

I am a painter by trade and have shot several matte and flat black pieces for cars and motorcycles. You spray it and your done no sanding or polishing. there are some paint systems that allow a clear top coat to make it matte, but they are cataylized and not recommended unless you have the proper equipment.

 

[Tonar8352]

If I use a satin nitro, how should I wet sand and buff?  If I polish too much, will it become glossy?

HEre is the finish I am trying to achieve.


same finish but black.

You can pull this off with nitro but like Phinox said the last coat can not be level sanded and buffed because it will polish up.  What you can do is level sand it after you have enough finish on it and then do one final melt coat with a heavily reduced coat of satin. That will flow it out and remove the sanding scratches and give it the correct sheen but you better have a real dust free environment.

The other option is look into automotive finishes that have the sheen you are after but again you will need the correct equipment to spray that kind of material.  Lot's of CFM, a great gun,good ventilation and spray mask.