Nitrocellulose Lacquer - FRETS.NET2024-03-28T15:16:13Zhttp://fretsnet.ning.com/forum/topics/nitrocellulose-lacquer-1?commentId=2177249%3AComment%3A161124&feed=yes&xn_auth=noDear Howard,
Thank you very m…tag:fretsnet.ning.com,2016-06-18:2177249:Comment:1610662016-06-18T22:21:03.286ZSteve Burchhttp://fretsnet.ning.com/profile/SteveBurch
<p>Dear Howard,</p>
<p>Thank you very much.</p>
<p>Steve Burch</p>
<p>Dear Howard,</p>
<p>Thank you very much.</p>
<p>Steve Burch</p> Martin's lacquer is made by a…tag:fretsnet.ning.com,2016-06-18:2177249:Comment:1609692016-06-18T20:16:09.098ZHoward Klepperhttp://fretsnet.ning.com/profile/HowardKlepper
<p>Martin's lacquer is made by a company that only sells to industrial users. I had the name but I no longer can find it. Incompatibility with Behlens is extremely unlikely if your guitar's finish is nitro lacquer.</p>
<p>Martin's lacquer is made by a company that only sells to industrial users. I had the name but I no longer can find it. Incompatibility with Behlens is extremely unlikely if your guitar's finish is nitro lacquer.</p> Thank you very much 'Guitar F…tag:fretsnet.ning.com,2016-06-17:2177249:Comment:1611312016-06-17T22:12:32.079ZSteve Burchhttp://fretsnet.ning.com/profile/SteveBurch
<p>Thank you very much 'Guitar Fixer' Q. Are you in Australia?</p>
<p>I wasn't sure how Martin attached the bridge. I imagined that they would finish and buff the whole top and then glue the bridge on.</p>
<p>Initially when the spruce raised I tried to push it down with a soft cloth and of course once the bridge dried out and the spruce went back to normal I had caused some tiny little depressions.</p>
<p>I have since drop filled these, let them shrink,sanded slightly and then air…</p>
<p>Thank you very much 'Guitar Fixer' Q. Are you in Australia?</p>
<p>I wasn't sure how Martin attached the bridge. I imagined that they would finish and buff the whole top and then glue the bridge on.</p>
<p>Initially when the spruce raised I tried to push it down with a soft cloth and of course once the bridge dried out and the spruce went back to normal I had caused some tiny little depressions.</p>
<p>I have since drop filled these, let them shrink,sanded slightly and then air brushed.</p>
<p>It all looks very good at this stage but will wait a few weeks to see how it really looks before final sanding and buffing. Should have just left it alone and saved a lot of hassle!</p>
<p>I have mucked around with fixing dings in guitars for years but every one of them poses a different challenge. this one being between the pick guard and bridge and I don't want to take off the guard.</p>
<p>The thing I find the hardest is try to match colors. Until recently I had trouble just removing very fine scratches despite using Microfibre cloth, swirl remover etc. For small areas I have found the Dremel felt pads or Foam pads very good but only on very slow speed.</p>
<p>One of the first jobs I did was to strip and re-finish a Gibson Custom head stock face. Thanks to Dan's book I was able to a good job scraping the black off the pearl inlays etc.</p>
<p>I mostly just do re-frets, leveling, new nuts and saddles etc. Mostly straightforward if you buy the right tools (I hate to think of how much I have spent but you need this stuff). Finishing is a whole other ballgame!</p>
<p>Thanks again for you reply and I hope you enjoy your day.</p>
<p>Steve Burch</p>
<p>Melbourne-Australia</p>
<p></p>
<p></p> Hi Steve,
I can explain the…tag:fretsnet.ning.com,2016-06-17:2177249:Comment:1610632016-06-17T21:03:29.754ZGuitar Fixerhttp://fretsnet.ning.com/profile/GuitarFixer
<p>Hi Steve,</p>
<p></p>
<p>I can explain the finish raising. Martin pockets (routs) the bridge into the spruce which cuts into the end grain a bit. Water flows into that and raises the grain. Attempting a finish repair this close to the bridge is pretty dicey. </p>
<p></p>
<p>skip</p>
<p>Hi Steve,</p>
<p></p>
<p>I can explain the finish raising. Martin pockets (routs) the bridge into the spruce which cuts into the end grain a bit. Water flows into that and raises the grain. Attempting a finish repair this close to the bridge is pretty dicey. </p>
<p></p>
<p>skip</p> Dear Dean,
I am pleased to he…tag:fretsnet.ning.com,2016-06-16:2177249:Comment:1611852016-06-16T02:21:44.750ZSteve Burchhttp://fretsnet.ning.com/profile/SteveBurch
<p>Dear Dean,</p>
<p>I am pleased to hear your health is good!</p>
<p>Thank you very much for your suggestions.</p>
<p>I have air brush this area and it has turned out very well.</p>
<p>I will still need to do a very fine sand and maybe a flash coat after that (around 3 weeks).</p>
<p>I have medium, fine and swirl remover.</p>
<p>Recently I experimented with using a tiny little felt buffing wheel on the minimum speed on a dremel to remove micro scratches and this works very well.</p>
<p>All the…</p>
<p>Dear Dean,</p>
<p>I am pleased to hear your health is good!</p>
<p>Thank you very much for your suggestions.</p>
<p>I have air brush this area and it has turned out very well.</p>
<p>I will still need to do a very fine sand and maybe a flash coat after that (around 3 weeks).</p>
<p>I have medium, fine and swirl remover.</p>
<p>Recently I experimented with using a tiny little felt buffing wheel on the minimum speed on a dremel to remove micro scratches and this works very well.</p>
<p>All the best.</p>
<p>Steve Burch</p>
<p>Melbourne-Australia</p> Hi Steve,
here is how I used…tag:fretsnet.ning.com,2016-06-15:2177249:Comment:1611242016-06-15T22:34:24.128ZDean Sibleyhttp://fretsnet.ning.com/profile/DeanSibley
<p>Hi Steve,</p>
<p> here is how I used to repair nitro.</p>
<p> I would never try & reattach chips etc. Rub back the area until no loose material visible. Quite often you will get a white mark where lacq separates from wood - this needs to be removed(sanded)Use 400 then 600 grit - dry. Airbrush several coats until hollow is filled - allow to dry thoroughly between coats or repair will "sink" over time as trapped solvents dissipate. After at least 24 hrs - preferably a few days, sand flush…</p>
<p>Hi Steve,</p>
<p> here is how I used to repair nitro.</p>
<p> I would never try & reattach chips etc. Rub back the area until no loose material visible. Quite often you will get a white mark where lacq separates from wood - this needs to be removed(sanded)Use 400 then 600 grit - dry. Airbrush several coats until hollow is filled - allow to dry thoroughly between coats or repair will "sink" over time as trapped solvents dissipate. After at least 24 hrs - preferably a few days, sand flush with 2000 grit wet. Hand rub or buff with 3M fastcut compound & finish with fine cut(swirl remover) if necessary. This method is only for full gloss finish.</p>
<p> I have done quite a bit of testing of waterbase finish & when I dug my thumbnail heavily into finish & tried to scratch it the wood was dented but no scratching, whiting or separation of the lacquer. I did hot coffee cups straight out of the microwave oven& frozen - very wet beer glass(tests done over summer) - the test board stayed on my coffee table for about 3 months. Not a mark. WB can be sanded with paper or steel wool - no clogging & scratching that comes with paper.</p>
<p> My health is currently good - 1 year clear. Thank you for your concern & my best wishes go to Frank & anyone who might be "under the weather" .</p>
<p>cheers,</p>
<p>Dean</p>
<p></p> Martin claims that they only…tag:fretsnet.ning.com,2016-06-15:2177249:Comment:1608812016-06-15T18:33:15.476ZPaul Breenhttp://fretsnet.ning.com/profile/PaulBreen
<p>Martin claims that they only use Nitrocellulose but they have used different variants.</p>
<p></p>
<p>I did a bridge R&R a few years ago on a 1993 D-93 to correct a lifting problem. When I was cleaning up the Spruce around the bridge margin, my chisel slipped a bit and peeled up a flake of finish about as large as my little fingernail. It seemed like it was not bonded well with the Spruce and it came up way to easily. I placed it where it should go and wicked lacquer thinner with…</p>
<p>Martin claims that they only use Nitrocellulose but they have used different variants.</p>
<p></p>
<p>I did a bridge R&R a few years ago on a 1993 D-93 to correct a lifting problem. When I was cleaning up the Spruce around the bridge margin, my chisel slipped a bit and peeled up a flake of finish about as large as my little fingernail. It seemed like it was not bonded well with the Spruce and it came up way to easily. I placed it where it should go and wicked lacquer thinner with retarder under it to stick it down. All it did was curl up. Then I applied some Butyl Cellosolve, also with no effect other than the bit of finish stayed soft and flexible.</p>
<p></p>
<p>At that point I was convinced that I was dealing with a Poly finish. I contacted Martin about it and was told that it is Nitrocellulose but had a cross-link additive. I ended up sticking the chip down and repairing the damage with CA that I leveled and buffed, the same way I would patch small Poly repairs.</p>
<p></p>
<p>I later did a bridge R&R on a 98 D-18V and had very minor, tiny chip outs that I wanted to clean up. This would normally just take some drop fills with lacquer, level, buff, done. The finish was exhibiting similar qualities to the D-93 finish, resistant to lacquer thinner. The finish was not lifting anywhere and I went ahead with the lacquer drop fills, which stuck, leveled and buffed well. The imperfections where too tiny to see if bonding regular Nitro to the cross-linked stuff left any witness lines.</p>
<p></p>
<p>The 80's and earlier Martins that I have done touch up work on have all been regular Nitro finishes that could be dissolved with lacquer thinner or Butly Cellosolve and easily repaired. Any quality Nitrocellulous lacquer labeled as instrument finish should be fine for most of these lacquer repairs.</p>
<p></p>
<p>I'm pretty sure that Martin did/does not use the cross-link lacquer on all there models. I also have no idea of which years or if they are still using it currently. I do know that I don't like the cross-link stuff!</p> Hi Dean,
Thank you for your t…tag:fretsnet.ning.com,2016-06-15:2177249:Comment:1608782016-06-15T05:36:13.600ZSteve Burchhttp://fretsnet.ning.com/profile/SteveBurch
<p>Hi Dean,</p>
<p>Thank you for your thoughts.</p>
<p>What happened is the side of the bridge got a few drops of water on it.</p>
<p>I think what happened is the bridge swelled ever so slightly causing the lacquer to raise and buckle. The lacquer didn't come away from the top. If I had just left it alone it would have been fine. (we live and learn no matter how old we get we still make mistakes).</p>
<p>I have had a response from Frank Ford and he has told me that the majority of Nitro's are…</p>
<p>Hi Dean,</p>
<p>Thank you for your thoughts.</p>
<p>What happened is the side of the bridge got a few drops of water on it.</p>
<p>I think what happened is the bridge swelled ever so slightly causing the lacquer to raise and buckle. The lacquer didn't come away from the top. If I had just left it alone it would have been fine. (we live and learn no matter how old we get we still make mistakes).</p>
<p>I have had a response from Frank Ford and he has told me that the majority of Nitro's are compatible.</p>
<p>I certainly agree with you on the use of water based lacquer. It probably won't be long before there is a worldwide ban on Nitro.</p>
<p>I am sorry to hear of your health issues and hope that you get well again.</p>
<p>Steve Burch</p> Hi Steve,
I find it a little…tag:fretsnet.ning.com,2016-06-14:2177249:Comment:1611202016-06-14T23:14:53.767ZDean Sibleyhttp://fretsnet.ning.com/profile/DeanSibley
<p>Hi Steve,</p>
<p> I find it a little unusual that a few drops of water are responsible for lifting nitro lacquer. I used mirotone for 30 yrs (not on instruments) & it is a good nitro lacq. BUT - after contracting bladder cancer last year I have switched to solely waterbased finishes now( & oil, shellac etc). I used Resene Aquaclear on the binding of the rare Aria I recently repaired - also to fill chips in lacquer when old binding removed - excellent result. I have used this on…</p>
<p>Hi Steve,</p>
<p> I find it a little unusual that a few drops of water are responsible for lifting nitro lacquer. I used mirotone for 30 yrs (not on instruments) & it is a good nitro lacq. BUT - after contracting bladder cancer last year I have switched to solely waterbased finishes now( & oil, shellac etc). I used Resene Aquaclear on the binding of the rare Aria I recently repaired - also to fill chips in lacquer when old binding removed - excellent result. I have used this on several dining tables with exc results. In my opinion waterbase finishes have finally overtaken nitro not just in safety but are more scratch resistant & durable. Nitro is now obsolete in my workshop.</p>
<p> The skill you need to apply most finishes will only come from experience & trial & error - & advice form the great people on this site..</p>
<p> Don't try & gain this exp on high grade instr. Buy a $10 guitar solely for practice & u won't feel bad about dropping it in the bin if things go wrong.</p>
<p> After buffing the Aria you could not tell the difference in the finish.</p>
<p> Shame on Martin guitars for not helping you to keep your pride & joy in original condition.</p>
<p>Cheers,</p>
<p>Dean</p> Hi Len,
Thank you very much f…tag:fretsnet.ning.com,2016-06-14:2177249:Comment:1611172016-06-14T10:16:18.156ZSteve Burchhttp://fretsnet.ning.com/profile/SteveBurch
<p>Hi Len,</p>
<p>Thank you very much for your help.</p>
<p>Steve Burch</p>
<p>Hi Len,</p>
<p>Thank you very much for your help.</p>
<p>Steve Burch</p>