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I just sprayed a Tele and a Strat and am wondering about how long to wait prior to wet sanding. I have read a bunch of conflicting reports about 2 days to 3 weeks. Thanks

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David, I'm no finishing expert. Not at all. But there's a difference between drying and curing. First of all, you don't state what you sprayed. Nitro? Water borne? Paint?

Lacquer dries very fast, but that doesn't mean it's cured. I'm sure some real experts will chime in very shortly. In the meantime, I'm going to say that patience is your friend. I'm not on a schedule (you might be). If it were mine, I'd let it cure at least two weeks. I might try to forget about it for another week or two after that. My approach is probably overkill on curing the lacquer, so wait until some experts chime in. Do NOTHING until then.

I sprayed laquer paint over three coats of sanding/ sealer.

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3 coats is not enough for a solidbody.
I usually sprayed at least 10.

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Chris do you mean10 coats of sealer or 10 coats of lacquer?

I sprayed 3 coats of sealer and three cots of lacquer. I was going to wait about a week and spray another 3 coats of lacquer.

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My bad. 3 thin coats of sealer max. Then building multiple thin coats of lacquer will add depth to your finish, and allow you to buff to a high shine.

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No real need to wait three weeks between coats. That just drags out the process, all those coats can degass together at the same time.

As for time to cut and buff that depends a bit on temp, RH & air movement in the drying area bbut 3 weeks is usually a good dry time for nitro. Acrylics will dry faster.

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Brian

You never know what you are capable of until you actually try.

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Brian's advice is sound depending on what you are using. I have switched to Cardinal Lacquer and the cure time before final sanding and buffing is one week. It is very hard by then and powders nicely. Most (if not all) other lacquers take a couple weeks longer.

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I use McFaddens/Seagraves nitro and have sanded and buffed as early as 4 days later and as long as 3 months. The results have been the same either way. I guess your mileage may vary, but I normally wait no more than a week and that's just because I spray on one weekend and sand/buff the next.

I also use epoxy as a pore filler, get my prep work done dead smooth and no sinks/gaps/holes/blems prior to spraying finish. Typically, I apply no more than 4 coats finish total.

4 days if you are on a schedule. A week is probably better. Like others said above, 3 coats is pushing it. I usually shoot at least 5 clears over my color coats. Nitro never fully cures. 50 years from now (if there is any finish left on the guitar) you can take some acetone or lacquer thinner and strip the finish. It takes a little more work but not much. Basically after 4 days, it's usually ready unless you live in a rainforest or something. It cures as much as it is going to over the first 6 months to a year so a couple of extra days or weeks isn't really going to make that much of a difference in the short term.


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Thanks for the info.

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