Seven String Plans/Safest Naphtha?

[bagman67]

It's a good idea to do a quick wipedown with naphtha between finish coats just to keep the dust and grease off.  Always work with clean hands, and use nitrile gloves as a good, cheap way to keep from laying down fingerprints.  A box of 100 of them will set you back less than $10 USD, and they're handy for all kinds of work.

 

[Cagey]

Perzactly. Naphtha's pretty inexpensive, and it won't hurt you. Use it liberally. Just don't drink it. Because, y'know, the thumb thing.

 

[Colin007]

Lol!! Will no be drinking the naphtha...

So the naphtha won't damage a finish that has dried?

 

[Cagey]

So the naphtha won't damage a finish that has dried?

Well, not lacquer or poly. I don't think I'd use it on any of the "oil" type finishes (True-Oil, Tung oil, boiled linseed oil, etc.). They don't even like alcohol or sweat.

 

[Colin007]

Sooooo..... Two things.

First of all, I dropped the frigging guitar. I cannot believe I did that. I am such a retard. I was finagling with the coat hanger that I was using to hang it and it just slipped off. Oh my god. Frigging moron. Well, it made a nice little flat spot on the end of the big horn. If I had a goldfish I would kick it.

Second, the wipe on poly I used says after the final coat to let it sit for 24 hours and then it's good to go. Can this be right? Or do I need to let it sit for longer?

 

[Cagey]

Don't sweat it. It happens. Bagman had a guitar fall off a hanger some years back during a finishing project, so you're not alone. I'm sure it won't happen again. Otherwise, we'll have to hunt you down and kill you, then drag you back and eat you. You don't want that to happen, right?

As far as how long to let the thing dry/cure, I'd use up every minute they tell you to, plus some. It only gets better the longer you wait.

 

[Colin007]

No, I definitely don't want to get eaten, lol!

I ask about the curing time because I've seen some on here saying to cure for a month. I'm sure that's other types of finishes though. Do I need to wait until I can't smell the finish any more?

 

[Cagey]

Well, we'd kill you first. We're not barbarians, fer crissakes!

When I was doing a wipe-on poly finish on one of my necks, it was dry to the touch fairly fast. I was recoating about 4 times a day. But, you probably couldn't have sanded or buffed the thing for several days. At least, I wouldn't have tried to. Lacquer is a bit different - that stuff practically dries coming out of the gun. But, oddly enough, it's nowhere near hard enough to sand for at least 2 weeks.

95% of the finishes Warmoth does are sprayed-on poly, and they'll make you wait 8-10 weeks for a body. I'm sure some of that is scheduling and fab time, but without a finish you're only looking at 10 days to 2 weeks, so subtract that from the other and you can see they want some serious cure time. You can't argue with their results, so I'd call that a lesson.

The manufacturer is telling you 24 hours, but I'd bet dollars to donut holes they mean that's how long you should wait before you handle it, not how long it takes to cure completely.

 

[Colin007]

I'm still kicking myself over dropping the kid. How stupid can I be??

Anyways, I'm not doing anything to it after this third coat except rubbing it with the synthetic 0000 steel wool to smooth it out a little. It'll hang for the weekend and then I'll take it for assembly next week.

Thanks again for all your help. You guys are super knowledgeable and generous with your expertise. Really appreciate it.