Finish still tacky

Werner232

Hi guys! Happy New Year!

I need some advice from the long time serious luthiers. I'm assembling a partscaster again. Finished the body with primer and enamel paint and left it about a week to dry. Then I applied poly lacquer. about 6 coats in all. My problems is that it is almost three months down the line and the lacquer is till tacky and when you put the body on cloth to work on the project it sticks to the cloth and leave imprints. What do I do?

Four4

Hi, thanks for the well wishes and a Happy New Year to you too!

Disclaimer upfront: I am by no means a serious luthier, so feel free to disregard anything I have to say?

I am not sure if there is any way to salvage the current finish on your guitar, I will let the more experienced forum members chime in on that one. I have also attempted some guitar finishing jobs and not had much luck achieving a durable, well cured finish... until now. I recently came across Rustoleum Ultimate Polyurethane. It's not cheap (R150 for a small tin), but it is water based (easy clean-up for an amateur like me), can be sprayed with an HVLP air setup without thinning, and claims it can be applied over "already finished" surfaces (I have only tried bare wood on two projects so far). Best of all, it dries hard and glossy (product pictured is the matte version but there are semi-gloss and gloss options too) within 24 hours (48 hours recommended before you work on the project, 7 days for total cure)

I know this does not answer your question directly, but I thought I would share my find. Hopefully it helps you with future projects.

Werner232

Thanks!