Posted on June 28, 2024May 14, 2025 by Dale Phillips Spraying Lacquer With Nitrogen Spraying Lacquer With Nitrogen by Harry Coleman Originally published in Guild of American Luthiers Data Sheet #64, 1978 and Big Red Book of American Lutherie Volume One, 2000 There are several advantages of using compressed nitrogen for spraying over the more conventional air compressor. Air compressors, when pulling air right out of the atmosphere, also pull the moisture in the air right into the storage tank. Most of it can be filtered out, but not all. In addition, oil has a way of working its way from the piston assembly in the compressor into the air line and ending up on your work. Compressors are expensive and do break. You have to have a long enough air line to get the compressor out of the finishing room or a spark from the motor could blow you away. Long lines cause a drop in air pressure. With nitrogen you are assured of 100% clean, dry “air.” Since there’s no motor involved, you can put the whole unit in the finishing room and use a shorter air line. The only disadvantage is that air is free, but nitrogen isn’t. You also have to take your tank out to get it filled. This is inconvenient, but the quality of the spray job makes it worth the trouble and expense, especially for a low-volume shop. Become A Member to Continue Reading This Article This article is part of our premium web content offered to Guild members. To view this and other web articles, join the Guild of American Luthiers. Members also receive 4 annual issues of American Lutherie and get discounts on products. For details, visit the membership page. If you are already a member, login for access or contact us to setup your account.
Posted on June 13, 2024May 15, 2025 by Dale Phillips Sealing with Shellac and Varnishing Rosewood Sealing with Shellac and Varnishing Rosewood by Neil Hebert Originally published in Guild of American Luthiers Data Sheet #269, 1984 and Big Red Book of American Lutherie, Volume One, 2000 I have been using oil varnish on my instruments for years and have always found the finishing stages to be long and tedious. Still, I find the results of a good rubbed varnish job to be superior to lacquer; it gives the nicest “feel” to the guitar as well as showing the wood to the best advantage. One of the most ticklish problems in my experience is the seal coat of shellac, especially the first coat. The seal coat must be applied evenly in order to maintain consistent color on rosewood. The resins in the wood tend to wash out over the surface, which can result in irregular staining. I have tried three methods for applying this coat: Become A Member to Continue Reading This Article This article is part of our premium web content offered to Guild members. To view this and other web articles, join the Guild of American Luthiers. Members also receive 4 annual issues of American Lutherie and get discounts on products. For details, visit the membership page. If you are already a member, login for access or contact us to setup your account.
Posted on June 6, 2024May 23, 2025 by Dale Phillips Questions: French Polish VS Olive Oil Questions: French Polish VS Olive Oil by Gary Southwell and Koen Padding Originally published in American Lutherie #97, 2009 Stuart Mewburn from London, England asks: A recent request for an instrument finished with olive oil prompted me to do an experiment. I took two pieces of European spruce, the same size, oil finished one and French polished the other. I used virgin olive oil, applying one layer a day with a cloth and finished the next morning with Micro-mesh. Over fifteen days it built up a lustrous finish. Over the same time I applied thirty layers of French polish to the second piece of spruce. The oiled spruce (fifteen layers) weighed 2g more than the bare wood. The French polished spruce (thirty layers) weighed 1g more than the bare wood. If these figures are multiplied up to the size of the lower bout it means that the oiled top adds 33.2g to the weight of the working part of the top and the French polish adds 16.2g. When you consider that a bridge weighs about 19g–20g that’s a significant increase in weight for the strings to drive. The experiment begs a couple of questions. Has anyone done similar tests for other guitar finishes? To what extent does the mass of the finish affect the tone of the instrument? And as an aside, how well will a finish like olive oil hold up? Become A Member to Continue Reading This Article This article is part of our premium web content offered to Guild members. To view this and other web articles, join the Guild of American Luthiers. Members also receive 4 annual issues of American Lutherie and get discounts on products. For details, visit the membership page. If you are already a member, login for access or contact us to setup your account.
Posted on June 6, 2024May 28, 2025 by Dale Phillips Questions: Power Buffer For Finish Questions: Power Buffer For Finish by Charles Fox Originally published in American Lutherie #79, 2004 and Big Red Book of American Lutherie Volume Seven, 2015 See also, Questions: Post Buffing Finish Scratches by Brian Boedigheimer Mario from cyberspace asks: I use a power buffer to rub out my finish. It looks perfect to me at the time, but sometimes in other light I can see little tiny scratches that I’ve missed. Any advice? Charles Fox of Portland, Oregon responds: That reminds me of when I brought instruments to my first music trade show a few decades ago. Under the unforgiving glare of the convention center’s halogen lights I was appalled to see that the guitars, which I thought were perfectly finished, were in fact covered with tiny scratches that hadn’t been visible to me under either tungsten, fluorescent, or natural sun light. Now I do all of my finish work beneath halogen work lights. You can get an excellent ceiling shop light with double halogen lamps (part # 73995) from www.Rockler.com for $34.99. ◆
Posted on June 6, 2024May 22, 2025 by Dale Phillips Letter: Clarification of DVD review in AL#97 Letter: Clarification of DVD review in AL#97 by Ronald Louis Fernández Originally published in American Lutherie #99, 2009 Greetings, I thank Tom Harper for his review of my DVD, French Polishing for Guitarmakers 2.0 in AL#97. I wish to make a few clarifications. My family’s Spanish guitar business in the 1960s never involved Manuel Rodríguez. Rather, we had dealings with Miguel Rodríguez of Cordoba as well as Manuel de la Chica (Granada), Arcángel Fernández, Marcelino Barbero, Felix Manzanero, Hernández y Aguado, Juan Alvarez, and José Ramírez III. My article “Miguel Rodríguez: Some Notes on his Family Tree and Correcting the Historical Record” in AL#68 (Winter 2001) tells about the Miguel Rodríguez family and mentions my dealing with them. In a footnote of that article, I specifically mention the difference between Miguel Rodríguez of Cordoba and Manuel Rodríguez of Madrid. Become A Member to Continue Reading This Article This article is part of our premium web content offered to Guild members. To view this and other web articles, join the Guild of American Luthiers. Members also receive 4 annual issues of American Lutherie and get discounts on products. For details, visit the membership page. If you are already a member, login for access or contact us to setup your account.
