How to polish nitrocellulose lacquer

Hey guys! I’m Brad, and I make how-to videos. I do custom painting projects, guitar painting, airbrushing, spray can painting, wood working, and a variety of other finishing work and tutorials. Please subscribe and check out my channel for more!

Finally someone has commissioned me to do a nitrocellulose paint job, and given me permission to post footage of it. In this video series we will cover the entire process for putting on a nitrocellulose finish excluding the grain filling at the beginning, which I have covered in a previous video.

Due to the nature of the job, this series will cover both opaque and transparent nitrocellulose finishes.

Intro music by Youtubers Sovereign King and Owen McKinley.

Don't forget to ask your questions or submit video questions if you want to show me something.

Thanks for watching.

To get in touch with me with your questions, photos, etc. use the links below!

[drummerdm]

The guitar seemed to have orange peel texture, can you eliminate that with more sanding? maybe a few more coats of lacquer? Enjoy your videos very much. Thanks

[Bluestouse]

People commenting on the orange like vintage paint jobs were perfect. Lol. I’m a painter. Keep up the awesome work man

[FunnyBunnyShowNYC]

Thanks for sharing your knowledge, Brad. You do good work.

[jacobmusic]

Hey man, for an armature builder like me, your. Videos are amazing. So clear and so much information. Awesome work man. Thank you.

[RockSpidr]

hey, great video series, i really liked it, Make sure you get a photo of the relic'd finished guitar, should look awesome, 1 suggestion if i may, in the playlist please put the video's in order so its easier to watch the series.Thanks.

[thecrankedamps]

Your videos are very helpful. Thanks man.

[YTPartyTonight]

Hey Brad, I've heard or read that, as the final spraying step after the last coat of top clear, painters spraying lacquer at guitar makers like Gibson and Fender would spray the whole thing with a light coat of straight thinner to cause the lacquer to level out more and reduce orange peel to significantly reduce fine sanding a polishing work later in the workflow. I don't know if you ever done a video that included information about this approach. I wonder if you've heard of this and your thoughts.

[Matan]

Thanks for the video!
Its almost impossible to sand dry nitro lacquer since the sandpaper clogs really fast. Do you have any method for dry sanding?

[diodesDankessAndDives]

What is another polish cream (like liquid ice) that I could buy at home depot? Long time fan, first time question asker

[Robster-Craw]

Say you dont have tools to do an polish job with but you have loads of mikro mesh and lots of high number wet dry sand paper. Would a mirror polish be possible with the things I have available to me?

[FranziKoe]

I think its a bad idea to wipe over the warm surface... it will take scratches real easy as long it is warm.

[atlanticshore]

How often do you sand and flatten? i.e. would you flatten after sealer, then flatten after colour coat, then flatten after clear coat, then buff? Great videos, really helping my project.

[expndable]

Hi Brad, thanks a lot for the work you put into these videos - they help a lot! I got one question for you though: I own a 1979 Les Paul custom with some very thick and sticky nitro-lacquer on it. Do you think I could get rid of some of the gummy-sticky feeling by sanding it down to like 5000 grid and buff it all up again?
Thanks again - best regards from Germany!

[donkeninitz]

Brad, the wrong video to ask this question (but I'm subscribed and watch all of your videos, and don't know which one to post in for this). I have a Tacoma acoustic from 1996. Tacoma made a great guitar (Fender eventually bought them), but the poly finishes were notorious for eventually bubbling. It took almost 20 years for mine to do it. I removed all the finish (what a pain that was; heat gun and scraper). Anyway, I Tru-Oiled the back and sides, but am using Deft satin nitro on the top. My question is, what are the final finishing steps when using a satin nitro? I've got 6 coats on and am planning to do another 4 - 6, but there's a slight roughness. I'm assuming polishing compound is the last thing I want to use; what would you suggest, maybe 0000 steel wool. I just want to smooth it out when I'm done so it feels silky.

[Larry_The_Gamer]

Hey Brad, love the videos dude, but I need a little direction. In the past, you said you liked behlen products, but I am having a hard time finding those... but what I really need is a recommendation for a laquer polishing compound. Like your go to name... would be easier for me to look up if I know its name and also the one you used in this video. I can't see what the name is

[nickmcmillan]

Any recommendations for polishing compounds? Not looking to get a huge bottle as I wont need that much haha

[jackmeidel]

Brad, any input on using naphtha for wet sanding instead of water? Another guy did a video on it and said the naphtha evaporates quickly enough to not swell the wood like water would. I'm in the middle of my first nitro job and I am really hesitant to dry sand the finish just because I don't know what to expect. Thanks

[aoldfolk]

when i polish by hand i can see swirl marks in it... it looks super mirror finished to the naked eye but are those swirls normal? can i get them out in any way? ive only done a test patch so can rectify if there is a way of doing that for the rest. thanks

[joshrideout]

I've sprayed all my clear coats and they went on fairly flat. Is there a way to buff to a semi gloss rather than a full gloss? Any tips can help

[phcguitars]

Hi Brad just wanna ask.. Can I spray another top coat lacquer on nitro...?? I mean, sand the nitro 1st and shoot another type of lacquer.. Thx