finish help!

JaySwear

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i'm thinking about grabbing a body off of ebay (it's cheap and looks awesome  :icon_biggrin:  and is a style i've been thinking of working on) but it's only painted, not clear coated. how difficult is it to clear a body? especially keeping in mind i couldn't manage to properly spray paint a body a week or two ago. i'm worried i could screw it up and be out the money for the body and the clearing materials. any suggestions?

i was looking at some supplies from stewmac. mainly this http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Finishing_supplies/Finishes_and_solvents/1/ColorTone_Essential_Finishing_Kit/Details.html#details

any other suggestions would be really appreciated, as i might decide to not go though with this at all if it would be too much of a pain. thanks!
 
Is the color coat nitro?

If so, you could pick up some deft spray nitro in an aerosol can at Lowes and have at it.
You could get by with some 600 grit wet/dry sandpaper to level out the orange peel.
You will need some buffing compound though; and a good deal of elbow grease without some sort of polishing wheel.

The thing with the kit is that it has more than you need as far as materials.
You aren't going to use the sealer or filler and really don't need a very wide assortment of sandpapers.

Do you have an e-bay link to the body?
To answer your first question though, spraying clear is really no different than color.

James
 
here's the body. i looked but i don't think he said how the body was painted

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=160343739143&_trkparms=tab%3DWatching
 
+1 - stew mac has some stuff you can't get elsewhere but they really really gouge you for certain items like paints and dyes. Your easiest bet, if that's what you want, is to clean up the body really well using maybe a rag and some naphtha followed by a dry clean cloth, make sure you don't leave oils from your hands anywhere it will be seen. Get a stick and attach it to the neck pocket, like we all do, so you can handle it more easily.
Then using the same clean cloth (an old clean tshirt maybe) wipe on some minwax wipe on gloss or satin poly coating. Follow the directions on the can, except go as thinly as possible, do a few coats. More time consuming but possibly nicer would be tru oil or danish oil.
 
i also realized that the link i posted about what i was going to buy from stewmac was wrong, i meant to post

http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Finishing_supplies/Finishes_and_solvents/1/ColorTone_Aerosol_Guitar_Lacquer.html

just the clear coat, not the ridiculously expensive "kit" with stuff i wouldn't need. anyway, would i need more than just aerosol?
 
Deft nitro lacquer is the same stuff, sold at home depot for 1/3 the price. You need sandpapers, a block, etc. too.
 
smavridis said:
will deft nitro work to clear coat everything?

As long as the basecoat is compatible with nitro.
"Clearcoat" (within the lacquer world) is just nitro, with no color added.
 
Yea, I'd bet money that it's not nitro on a squire.

It's just that "clearcoat" is a vague term.
It could be lacquer, polyurethane, or a number of other mediums.
It's just a clear version of whatever medium you are working with, that is generally applied over a color coat.
 
You could seal off the swirl finish with Zinnser Bullseye sealer (or pretty much any other clear shellac based product) before applying a nitro topcoat.
 
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