Waterbased. Varathane satin or General Finishes satin?

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Mike Perez
Posts: 56
Joined: Sat Feb 19, 2022 1:24 am
Location: Southern Ca

Waterbased. Varathane satin or General Finishes satin?

Post by Mike Perez »

Looking to try a water based top coat on a solid bodied guitar.
I've not done water based except KTM-9 about 15 years ago.
Looking for a finish I can grab at the local hardware store and can apply in my home.
I've been debating between Varathane satin, waterbased and General Finishes stain, water-based.
I've seen some nice applications online.
All comments, suggestions and experiences would be appreciated.
Thank you!
Mike
Marshall Dixon
Posts: 169
Joined: Tue May 21, 2019 8:58 pm
Location: SW Oregon

Re: Waterbased. Varathane satin or General Finishes satin?

Post by Marshall Dixon »

Mike Perez wrote: Tue Apr 12, 2022 2:27 pm Looking to try a water based top coat on a solid bodied guitar.
I've not done water based except KTM-9 about 15 years ago.
Looking for a finish I can grab at the local hardware store and can apply in my home.
I've been debating between Varathane satin, waterbased and General Finishes stain, water-based.
I've seen some nice applications online.
All comments, suggestions and experiences would be appreciated.
Thank you!
Mike

I tried the KTM-9 once about 20 years ago but settled on EMTEC-6000 with added crosslinker from Target coatings. It has a long cure time. The can states somewhere around five days, but I don't do the final buffing out until 2 weeks. It has good blend-in qualities and I've used it over initro for a repair.

I had a quart left over and used it last year and it seemed to take longer to dry to a sandable hardness when levelling between application sessions.

After serious review of this thread (started in 2014 and still current with 100 pages so far) I've decided to use Verathane Ultimate waterbourne polyurethane on my next acoustic builds:

https://www.talkbass.com/threads/using- ... b.1116168/

I've got a nice HVLP spray gun and I sprayed the EMTEC at around 20-25 pounds. What I read about spraying the Verathane is to use even lower pressures in the 15 pound range. It's a two part poly with the molecules separated by water and when the water evaporates they meet and quickly harden. Too high a spray pressure causes an evaporation of the water before it hits the surface, not giving enough time to level out. Recoating should be done 30 to 60 minutes apart. Any longer waits require surface sanding for good adheasion. Supposedly you can buff it out after a 24 hour cure. And I read it goes on thin and will try to measure that.

I got a quart can at the local hardware store for around $25.
Marshall Dixon
Posts: 169
Joined: Tue May 21, 2019 8:58 pm
Location: SW Oregon

Re: Waterbased. Varathane satin or General Finishes satin?

Post by Marshall Dixon »

Here's a link to the talkbass thread pg. 83 that gives an overview up to that thread's page. Go down to post #1648.

https://www.talkbass.com/threads/using- ... 68/page-83

I started spraying yesterday. Right out of the can. 12 psi was recommended not 16 as I stated. I couldn't get a enough on the wood at that low a pressure even at 3 to 4" distance. I tried slowing down the pass which helped but ended up turning up the pressure to 1.5 Barr. Still a bit splotchy coverage. Maybe need a larger diameter nozzle. I'm considering brushing it on.
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