Official Luthiers Forum!

I know this wont affect alot of you because you live above the "gnat line", but I am having an issue with gnats being attracted to my nitro.

Seems like every time I spray the stuff, every gnat in the county comes over to have a drink of it befire it dries. So far I have been able to get them un stuck from the finish before the next coat, but it is getting old in a hurry.

Has any of you noticed that bugs are attracted to nitro?

 

ALso, I have been using soapy water for a lubricant when I wet sand the finish. It has been working ok for me, but it is a pain to clean off the left over soap before the next coat. What do you use for a lubricant when wet sanding?

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Reguards,

Ken H

Ken, you just have to quit being such a gnatpicker.










Sorry, but you just left the punch line dangling for me there...

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Eschew obfuscation, espouse elucidation.

It could be worse - you have alligators down there.......

Ken I never wet sanded anything until the straying was done.  Nitro will burn in but it also benefits from mechanical adhesion so I just scuff/level sanded between coats, tack ragged it, and added additional coats.

Perhaps you don't even need to wet sand at all until all spraying is over and 4 weeks of curing time has passed?

Luckily I haven't had the gnat problem down in this part of the state Ken. Are you talking about the notorious "No-see-ums" that bite the c*** out of you? They're so small I don't think you could see them in the finish... kidding. So,you must be spraying in your garage? There's just too many dang bugs in Florida !

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Anderson Guitars
Clearwater,Fl. 33755

Dave you can say "crap" on the OLF.....

Oh, Thanks Hesh    I musta been thinking s***

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Anderson Guitars
Clearwater,Fl. 33755

I used to use lamp oil as a wet sanding lubricant on oil varnishes used for violins.  It is basically highly refined kerosene and you can get it will a nice lemon scent.  It cuts very fast and leaves no residue and doesn't affect subsequent coats but I have never used it on nitro.

 

Chris

Dave you can probably say that too but we would miss you when you are gone..........

Sorry Ken for the high-jack......

Years ago I was very carefull to make a tent of new plastic sheets to keep dust out of the area where I was brushing varnish. Nevertheless, I kept getting irregular, colorless "dust" and chunks settling into the varnish. I scratched my head for years trying to figure this out. I scratched and scratched my head. Then I realized that it was probably dandruff.

Ken, Try spraying indoors.

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http://www.dickeyguitars.com

Ken, I have had the same problem here with gnats... I live a couple of hours south of you, so no suprise there. I finally gave up and built a small paint booth out of pvc and visqueen and duct tape... problem solved. BTW, they are driving me crazy now for another reason... They've been committing mass suicide in my pool for the last few weeks and clogging my filters in the process. Pesky critters for sure.

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Jim Womack

"Be thankful we're not getting all the government we're paying for. "
Will Rogers

I used to keep an exacto knife with a #2 blade handy when spraying to delicately extract these things from a just sprayed finish.

Gives new meaning to "getting the bugs out" of one's process. 

Wassa gnat?

Mario,

Gnats are those guys that keep calling you on the phone wanting to be your apprentice.

Ken,

You shouldn't be wet sanding in between coats. Water shouldn't be anywhere near that guitar -- you're just asking for problems. I use 320 on my random orbital and only sand and level every three to four coats. I don't wet sand any more, everything is dry. I want to keep the water away.

Lance

mccollumguitars.com

I also sand dry between coats. The dust isn't a issue with good dust collection, but i don't sand wile spraying anyhow.

The reason I d it dry is that I ca see, in real-time, when the surface is level or not. When wet, it all appears level all the time, so we constantly guess and then wipe dry, sand, guess, wipe dry... With 3M gold 240 or 280, it goes fast, never loads up, and I only remove what needs to be removed.

Cut through, even a tiny spot, with wet paper, and you're in touble, as the surface will change and it WILL show when touched up(been there done that).

Agree on soaking wet papers at least overnight, also! Dramatic difference. I keep them in 2lb margarine tubs filled with water and a few drops of Murphy's oil soap. Cover them and they're ready to use any time.

When I do my wet sanding, I use mineral spirits. No water/soap here. I dry sand to 800 3M gold no-load papers (if I had a buffing wheel, I'd just start to buff after this) than wet sand with the mineral spirits to 2000 than OOOO steel wool with paste wax, gives a semi gloss finish that I like.

I think to solve your gnat problem, you need to have a dedicated booth of some sort first off to contain the fumes of the over spray and than to keep the gnats out. Also think about building a cabinet that you put your bodies and necks in after you've sprayed, kind of like this



This cabinet of mine can hold two guitar bodies and two necks. Mine isn't sealed off from the rest of the booth but I don't have gnats.

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My Facebook Guitar Page

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

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I havent been soaking my paper at all, so this is a good tip. THANKS! Also, I'll try the murphy's oil soap too.

I do spray in my garage and sometimes outside if the weather is nice. Right now I dont have a spray booth. One is on it's way soon.

I mostly sand between every 3 coats just to make sure everything stays level. It also gives me a chance to fix any problem spots if I see them early. It also gives me a chance to remove any imbedded gnats

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Reguards,

Ken H

Huhm! Bugs in Florida? Who'd a thought"

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Billy Dean Thomas
Covina, CA

"Multi famam, conscientiam, pauci verentur."
(Many fear their reputation, few their conscience)

Good luck Ken with getting a booth. Mine is cardboard and two by fours for now. Works great. Shoot the fan out the window in the back of the booth. Someday I'll have a proper booth too.

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http://www.dickeyguitars.com

I always wet sand between sessions & have never had a problem. I sometimes use soapy water, but only after all the coats have been sprayed. I am not comfortable with using soap for sanding between coats.
With a well laid down finish, you can easily do your leveling with 800 (or finer) grit wet or dry paper. Nitro will foul the paper if you don't spritz regularly.
320 will clog up a lot less slowly, but I prefer to avoid all those 320 scratches.
Different strokes...

I have sprayed outside, & you're right about the bugs. They seem to come for miles when they catch a whiff of nitro. No-see-ums will sometimes be driven into the nitro, right down to the sealer coat. GRRRRR! I dig 'em out with an Xacto blade & drop fill.
We'll be laying the footings for my new spray booth next week. No More Bugs!