Question on Deft

[dmraco]

I know nitro can feel sticky on the neck and show wear much sooner that Poly.  Is deft the same way?  I ask because I know deft has solved some of the yellow and crackle issues associated with nitro.  Since I am not looking for a relic look, (I want this guitar to look the same in 20 years), I am thinking poly but I hate to work with it. 

Can Deft be the answer or does it have the same properties as pure nitro?

  I have sprayed Deft on a Peavey I re-did but it has only been a few months.  Probably still curing!!!! :doh:

 

[Keyser Soze]

Deft is a nitro based lacquer.  I would not expect it to be any more wear resistant than any other nitro lacquer - i.e. it's going to wear pretty quickly if subject to significant use.  More layers would help delay wear through, but by how much I really can't say (just too many variables.)

If wear resistance is more important to you I'd say go with a urethane (or a catalyzed acrylic - that's what most high wear furniture gets now, but those are highly technical products really intended for production use.)

The flip side is that while lacquer is more fragile than cured poly it is also easier to repair/re-do.  If you don't wait for the wear to cut all the way through the top coat into the color coats then all you do is strip/clean the surface, scuff sand it smooth/even, then repeat a schedule of topcoat application and rub-out.  With a little time and effort you can keep any nitro finish guitar looking showroom new perpetually.

Cross linked finishes are a mother to repair, and often your only choice is to mechanically/chemically strip and re-do the whole thing.