Does Water cause Fisheyes ?

[Len Biglin]

Hi, everyone , after a final wet sanding , I sprayed my final coat of nitro and dang ! fisheyes ! are they likely caused by moisture from the sanding ? Thanks Len

[Mike Kolb]

As I understand it, any contamination can cause the 'fisheye' effect.... water, oil, silicone... and I'm sure the list is lengthy.

[Pierre-Antoine Roiron]

As far as I know, water shouldn't have this effect if the surface is dried. For your problem I would try wash the guitar with soapy water (basic soap, no additives), then acetic acid, then ammonia. That should help you with any silicone or grease. Be careful of the vapors and strength of these products try them on a tiny invisible part. Don't apply on bare wood. Then you could wipe a shellac coat and spray you final nitro coat.

That's the procedure I use on repairs when the customer's guitar is loaded with tons of odd home cleaning products.

[Ned Knepp]

Not to hijack the thread but I have a question about the acetic acid. I have a guitar that needs to have some mineral build up from sweat on the lower bout. I was thinking about trying acetic acid to remove it but I'm concerned about the finish.  Since you recommended it here as a cleaner, I would like to know if there is anything I should be aware of before using it on a guitar that may require more than a wipe down with it. 

 

(I know the safety issues with using acetic acid. I used to work for a data recovery company and we used it a lot to remove mineral deposits from floppy disks that got wet in business that had fires ) 

[Pierre-Antoine Roiron]

I wouldn't be afraid of trying it on PU or Polyesther finish. On nitro, I guess it should be OK, but I only use it sometimes before some new spraying. Plus I don't have a lot of experience with it.

For mineral deposit, I would try naphta, hoping it would dilute it, and if I do not succeed, I would go to the buffer to buff it out. In fact I didn't know acetic acid could be of some use in these cases. Try whatever your data recovery experience tells you to, and tell us what happened!

[Len Biglin]

Thanks Pierre , I suspect the soundboard was not completely dry , I hope thats all it was .I will lightly sand , clean and try again. Thanks again , you give very good advice.Len

[Pierre-Antoine Roiron]

Good luck... the finishing of a instrument is always a stress for me. I talked about that with Dean Campbell in Montreal (Montreal Guitar Show, great place toi exhibit for a guitar maker) last year. I don't remember well his words, but it was based on the word "f**k", mainly. I agreed!