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Well like many before me, I am still trying to decide what kind of finish to put on the guitar I’m building for my father. I have been very pleased with the Tru-oil finish that I used on my ukulele. After 25 ultra thin coats it leveled out and polished up great. Although the finish very clear it was a bit more amber than I would have liked and I want the guitar to show off the figured bubinga that I’m using.

The Zinsser seal coat is supposed to be a 2 pound cut and wax free. I really don’t know what the cut means other than the amount of shellac but I know wax free is good. Could you also use this as a primary finish? Could you spray it on as opposed to French polish? I only have a small hobby sprayer … could I get by with that? I know that Zinsser also produces a French polish also.

As always, I appreciate your support of those without knowledge, tools, or skills. LOL

Philip

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Hmm dupe entry.konacat39000.8388541667

_________________
aka konacat

If you think my playing is bad you should hear me sing!
Practice breeds confidence and confidence breeds competence. Unfortunately, I'm stuck in practice.

Shellac makes a fine finish with a few exceptions. It can be sprayed, brushed, or used as a french polish. I used to use shellac and tru oil for my gunstocks in sort of a semi french polish and this worked well also. The problem with shellac is that it is like a lot of old musicians that I know. It doesn't deal well with alcohol. just a bit of alcohol will dissolve the finish, but usually it can be easily repaired.

[QUOTE=konacat] The Zinsser seal coat is supposed to be a 2 pound cut and wax free. I really don’t know what the cut means...[/QUOTE]
Philip,

The "pound" designation is always in reference to one gallon of alcohol. So, one pound of dry shellac in one gallon of alcohol equals a one-pound cut. two pounds of shellac to one gal. of alcohol equals a two-pound cut, etc. If you don't need a whole gallon of mixed shellac--and we don't for our purposes--just adjust the ratios down. One pound to one-half gallon, one-half pound to to 16 oz., one-quarter pound to 8 oz., all equal a two pound cut.

Philip, yes you can spray the Zinsser seal coat right out of the can, strain it first just incase there is anything other than "shellac" in there.

You can use it as a sealer and final finish. Spray about 10-12 (maybe more) coats than let it cure for a week or so, than do your leveling starting from 320 grit and work to 600, once your good and level you can spray another 3-6 coats leave it for a couple more weeks and start the polishing 600 grit up to what ever highest paper you can get, or you can just fp the final couple of coats, after the leveling session. From what I understand the fp is all about building up layers in a way which also levels. I've never fp'd but after seeing Alain Desforges latest fp job....whew...I'm almost there.

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Whoops, I should add that after you seal it, you will want to pore fill of course, otherwise you will have lots of little pits and they are just a pita

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"There's really no wrong way, as long as the results are what's desired." Charles Fox

"We have to constantly remind ourselves what we're doing....No Luthier is putting a man on the moon!" Harry Fleishman

"Generosity is always different in the eye of the person who didn't receive anything, but who wanted some." Waddy Thomson

i want to add, since i just used the Zinnser seal coat to do some FP, it also does add a bit of color. It is not clear, but a light amber, sort of a vintage look.   I did not care as I was only trying to learn FP. I did a sitka spruce archtop top that I had laying around. It came out great after i learned a few tricks.   Honestly I didn't think the FP was that difficult and will deffinately be using it on my guitar when I get it built. Of course it was not hard because the great people at olf advised me as I went along..
Mikemikev39001.1051157407

Yep 2# cut is 2 lbs of shellac to 1 gallon of solvent. Zinsser's Seal Coat is a 50% amber 50% blond makeup. this does impart a light amber color to the finish. I have been using Seal Coat for French polish for several years as well as my standard sealing shellac.

Mikev,
French polishing is not hard once you learn how to Handel the media and the 3 basic process required. pumice filling is the hardest of the process if you chose to use this type of fill the rest is just gravy. There really is no need to wait a week to cure. a couple days is fine and even same day buff out will works

If you paint shellac on then I would give it a week to cure due to flash off being slower when applied thickerMichaelP39001.4237615741

I think too much mystery is applied to French polishing. When it comes down to it it is just rubbing shellac on to wood! I've done about 20 guitars in it now and find it to be the easiest part of the build. Just try it on scrap.

I now use the Liberon blonde de-waxed shellac and have had superb results straight out of the bottle.

Colin

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MichaelP,, i agree with you,, but as Colin put it , I too believe to much mystery is applied to french polishing.. Heck there are pages and pages of manuals on it.. And it at first seems like you must follow an exact recipe or you will fail... I followed some guidelines fairly close, it came out great... But as I said before I had some excellent guidance as I went along to remove much of the mystery...    Thanks Guys
Mike