Schmoo the quick recipe is like this
clean wood with naphtha
apply grain filler
dry rock hard
sand with 320
repeat that grain filler thing 3x, with last sanding at 400
dye and or tone
clearcoat 2x
burst if ya gonna
clearcoat 2x to 4x
let sit about 3 weeks
sand level with 320grit
sand more level with 600grit
trial buff out
if it looks ok and is all level and nice, just keep buffing
I've found that there's just as much buffing if you take it to 1000 or 1500 or 2000 grit like some like to
The DEFT I use can buff out fine at 600 grit, using white auto compound (Turtle wax)
If you have some issues in the finish, just 600 grit and clean with naphtha... level the offending area, give a quick reshoot, let it sit a week and relevel light with 320, then 600, the rebuff. The idea when you reshoot is to get the area you're shooting "roughed up" a bit, so you have good melt in. Lacquer will melt to the underlying lacquer finish, but a full gloss makes it harder for it to melt in. Roughing just a little perfects that.
And thats it.
When sanding flat areas, use a block - 3m, home depot
Use BEST grade non clog sandpaper
When 600 grit sanding, use (oh here's a secret) Formby's lemon oil as a sanding medium (ie wet sanding using Formbys). Frank Ford - arguably the best guitar repairman on the planet - uses kerosene to wet sand, but the Formby's does the same, its a light oil. Light oil is easier and clogs less than water. Clean with naphtha before reshooting though.
Lacquer rules:
Lacquer needs to be applied to CLEAN surfaces - always clean with naphtha beforehand using a CLEAN rag
Lacquer melts into itself when reapplied - rough up the previous coat if buffed out, but new coats on old (if shot within a day or so) dont need that.
Lacquer will naturally give a little orange peel and ripple - this sands out with 600 grit wet
Lacquer will SHRINK considerably when drying. The plastic in the lacquer will shirink as the solvents gas off. You need to let lacquer sit at LEAST 3 weeks to get a really good dry down before leveling.
Lacquer will go "cloudy" (blush) when applied thick. You want to use a lacquer with "no blush" added to it - DEFT has this. Generally apply the coat so it "just begins to look wet", this will blush a little, but will clear as it dries. Blush is trapped water vapor, but it will clear unless its really severe, or... unless you have a REALLY dark color like black or deep red mahogany.
If you get a run or drip in lacquer - just leave it. You'll find it might just go away as the lacquer dries. What looks terrible on wet lacquer will often dry to barely noticable, and that little run spot usually will sand level really easy and you dont have much of a problem at all. If you try to "wipe it" when its wet, you just blew the finish, so let it dry, shrink and its a no issue.
THICK coats of lacquer take longer to dry. That three weeks might be 3 months! Might be 3 years! Better to use thinnest coats possible that give you that "wet" look, and back off. Let em dry. Remember - solvents have to evaporate for lacquer to dry - so its hard for thick uncured finish to dry properly - the outer layer is gassed off, but under that, solvent is still trying to escape - you'll get an impossible to sand, gummy finish. Thin coats, ample drying time are always a must.
PATIENCE is needed with lacquer. Experience will say when you can rush it, till you got some - WAIT at least a day for coats, and WAIT at least 3 weeks for leveling, if not longer. Makes it hard to not play with yer new toys, but ya gotta!
Books? Read Frank Fords www.frets.com from stem to stern - every last bit of it, not just the lacquer pages. Why? Because he buries all his little tricks in the other fixup pages, how he does this and that to certain problems. LEARN from the master!
Then - come here and show LOTS of pictures of yer progress, dont get impatient, and get some feedback from folks, and be willing to go slow.
