Official Luthiers Forum!

Possibly a dumb question - for those using a rotisserie, what is the purpose? Is this to keep the finish run sagging? I imagine the flow is you spray a coat and then put it in the rotisserie and it slowly rotates while it flashes off. Is that it?

Brad


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

_________________
Insta - https://www.instagram.com/cbcguitars/
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/cbcguitars

Brad--

For me, it is more about being able to position the workpiece while I am spraying it, without having to hold it. You have seen my spraying box, right? I have a rotisserie tower on top of a lazy susan. Between the two, I can position the workpiece however I want, and I am not holding it in my hand. I think others do it to avoid sagging, as you say, but that's not my main reason for having the rotisserie.

I have that Stewmac Freehand Holder mounted on a rotating table but that's just to position the guitar while I'm spraying. As soon as I'm done spraying the guitar and neck go into a drying box.

_________________
Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

Oh, so like I said, maybe it’s a dumb question - I assumed that when people are saying rotisserie it’s something that rotates on its own. I have the SM freehand holder for positioning.

Context: I’m considering changing up my spray booth a bit. I don’t quite have room to spin the instrument 360. I can rotate the freehand holder but I cannot spin it on the lazy Suzan it’s mounted to.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

_________________
Insta - https://www.instagram.com/cbcguitars/
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/cbcguitars

I use a rotisserie when I grill tri-tip (it’s the secret ingredient), but I haven’t used one in finish work yet.

(Someone had to make the gimme’ joke)

Having studied posts from those that do, I believe it’s to prevent runs like you mentioned. I’ve usually seen them connected to oil varnish and Enduro Var.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I needed one when I was brushing spar varnish. After applying a coat, I had to keep the guitar in motion to prevent runs. Upside with that runny varnish was that it self-levelled marvelously. I scrounged the parts for one, based on a BBQ, but changed varnishes before I got it set up. Still have the parts in a dark dusty corner somewhere.

_________________
formerly known around here as burbank
_________________

http://www.patfosterguitars.com

The rotisserie is more for oil varnish than something like lacquer or any of the modern finishes. Before settling on urethane, one of the finishes I tried was an oil varnish called Murdochs Uralkyd 500. Really nice stuff but it was truly "water" thin. For that kind of viscosity, a rotisserie setup works amazing. I brushed on the varnish and literally got a high-gloss finish without any leveling. Without the rotisserie, I would have really struggled with runs in the finish.

I love tri-tip on the grill and learned about it when I moved out your way to Walnut Creek, CA.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=escxSMDoC5g
you can see mine turns automatically. I also use a heat lamp with it
it sure helps finish. I did add a plug at the table so I can turn it on and off as I spray.
I mount it with 2 screws in the neck block.

_________________
John Hall
blues creek guitars
Authorized CF Martin Repair
Co President of ASIA
You Don't know what you don't know until you know it

Using John Hall’s recommendation on which grill rotisserie to buy (thanks, John), I picked a dowel that I could cut into a square on one end (for fitting into the drive on the rotisserie) and fit into StewMac finishing holders on the other end (the kind that come with the freehand holder, but can be bought separately). I mounted the rotisserie on a tower, and the tower on a lazy susan. It all works really well to give me access to everything on the guitar without having to walk around or contort myself. It has the same functionality as a spray finishing work holder I recently saw in a Texas Toast Guitars video. They call it a “twist and spin”, or something like that.

Hi Brad,
If you already have a lazy Susan another thing you could try is "finishing flat". I had considered using a BBQ rotisserie for spinning the instrument, but being rather lazy never got around to it. What works for me is to use a lazy Susan and spray the body laying flat on it. I will spray the back with a heavy wet coat, and the sides with a normal coat (one that won't sag or run). After it dries I will spray the top with a full wet coat and the sides with a normal coat. Often I use the double coat technique, and if I'm in a hurry I will tape blocks of wood on the fingerboard extension area and bridge area to act as "stand offs" and rest the instrument on them before the top is fully cured.
The Lazy Susan allows you to spin the body 180 degrees and spray the body again to create a more uniform coat.
I'm nursing a bad knee, so avoiding climbing the hill to my shop, so I set up a "spray booth" in the great outdoors in an odd spot of the yard. For those on a budget this is not a bad set up - just be sure to spray when standing up wind:

Clay, the sapwood looks cool. What is it? Rich color.

_________________
Why be normal?

Hi Ken,
At the risk of going O.T., that is some of my "budget BRW" - sequence matched veneer glued back together in the same order it was cut with transparent epoxy glue. The advantage is the low relative cost and you don't have to resaw and thickness sand it. The disadvantage is the additional time and effort it takes to laminate it. I'm not a big fan of sapwood, but if I trimmed the veneer to eliminate it it would have been a ukulele set