Official Luthiers Forum!

Hi all,

After three years of not even touching a guitar, I just started building again (as a hobby this time!). I'm looking for alternatives to the usual PTA finishes (you know, the 'several-coats-of-toxic-smelly-stuff-that-you-need-to-polish-at-the-end' kind of stuff). I decided to go with a matte finish, available as an out-of-the-shelf products. Also waterbased is a requirement as I'm doing this not only inside the house, but right under our livingroom!

With all that in mind, I've decided to give Minwax waterbased polycrilic a try, and so far I'm quite pleased with the results on my test scraps. Used it to pore fill (as you would with egg whites), and it worked like a charm. Than after just four coats applied with a paper towel, it looks perfect. All this within the same day!

So before I go ahead and finish my current buildwith it, I thought I'd ask here if someone migt have had bad experience with it.

Anyone?

Thanks in advance!

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Alain Moisan
Former full time builder of Acoustics, Classicals and Flamencos.
(Now building just for fun!)

Hi Alain and welcome back. I haven't tried polycrilic but would be interested in seeing some photos when you get this one completed.

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

Bonjour alain , bravo pour retourne. I/ve used this product but only on my instrument forms . dries quickly in our climate and multiple coats can be put down in 1 day depending on the weather. My can from homeless depot is applied with a cheap dollar store foam brush, But I bought a nice synthetic nylon orange brush from jeff jewitt just for using waterborne finishes , I also use the general waterborne finishes which IMHO lay down a better finish with a quality synthetic brush . Advantages , are quick dry time and multiple coats in 1 day. I would use the general on instruments , and the minwax on forms.

I have used polycrylic before but not on guitars. I found it to be soft, dried less clear than other finishes, and I could not get it to flow out at all. I would not use it again.
But formulations do change, it’s been several years, and as they say - your mileage may vary

Hi all, and thanks for the replies!


Will do, but it's going to be hard to show the quality with pictures, since it's going to b a matte finish.


Thanks Ernie! And thanks for your feedback on Polycrilic. I'll look into synthetic brushes, although right now applying with a papertowel has given good results. The very little 'brush' marks that are left right after a coat all vanish away once the finish has dried.


Thanks for you input Glen. The fact that I'm using a matte finish might be less of an issue with regards to it being less clear that other finishes. As forthe flow out issues, that's true. But I've managed to deal with it. What I was afraid of was brush marks, but as I pointed out further up, I was surprised to see them disappear once dry. (But maybe the paper towel helps with that regards...)

Thanks again for your feedback guys!

Glad to be back!

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Alain Moisan
Former full time builder of Acoustics, Classicals and Flamencos.
(Now building just for fun!)

How is it different from Minwax "Wipe On Poly"?

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Steve Sollod (pronounced sorta like "Solid")
www.swiftcreekguitars.com

Minwax's 'Wipe on Poly' is oil based. So a much different beast. It spreads quite easily, but it's smells much more than waterbased finish, and they don't offer it in matte finish. Best they have is satin.

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Alain Moisan
Former full time builder of Acoustics, Classicals and Flamencos.
(Now building just for fun!)

Does that make wipe on poly more like Tru-oil?

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Steve Sollod (pronounced sorta like "Solid")
www.swiftcreekguitars.com

Don't know. Never tried Tru-oil...

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Alain Moisan
Former full time builder of Acoustics, Classicals and Flamencos.
(Now building just for fun!)

I have used Tru oil a lot but I only use three or four coats, so there is no build (feels like wood). I have heard of many other people using 5x as many coats and getting some kind of build. Wipe on poly is just thinned polyurethane. I have used it in a similar fashion and it seemed like it started to build a little after a few coats.

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Pat