Welcome back to this series on maintenance and repairs for my instruments. Last time, we just finished getting the new back on Ask and we were then ready to start applying finish to both instruments. This process is repetitive and takes a while so the photos are actually of the first coat and first sanding on this. The number of times you can do this process depends on how much time you have, how many coats you want and how much you're getting paid to do it.
Let's jump right to it!
Coats of Finish
Having a new back on one of these instruments takes out of the way the repairing portion of this job. Time to apply the finish. We start by making mixing some sealer with thinner to create something with the right thickness. I'm usually always wasting plastic bottles for this process, but this time I had the can that was almost empty and knew by eye-balling it, that it would suffice for the job. Since the sealer gets very thick at the bottom of the can, it takes some time for it to dissolve in thinner.
During the time we wait for it, we can make the cotton ball to apply the sealer. We just need to get a bit of cotton. Make it into a ball. Then, roll it on a piece of wood to get rid of any loose pieces that could get attached to the finish on the instrument. We know we're done once the cotton has the shape of a ball and we can see a grid pattern on its surface.
Now that the sealer is diluted and we can actually get some on the cotton, it's time to apply. As a rule of thumb, we always go with the grain of wood on the first pass. Then, we make circular motions to fill the pores faster. On a first round, we can apply as much as ten coats of sealer. As it is thin, it will dry faster enough as to never put the instrument away while we are applying the coats. It is important to get some protection in the form of a respirator as we don't want to inhale the fumes of the products.
After the last coat is applied, we can hang the instruments or put them in other place and let them dry up.
Yes, more sanding
This sanding is the worst part of any build or repairs since the white dust gets everywhere and it's really bad for lungs. Respirator is a must on this step.
The process is simple. Now that we have coats of finish on the instruments, we need to make them even. So, we sand were needed. Once we have all the white dust collected on the surface, we use a brush to get it off. Any other spots with dust are removed with a cloth with thinner. This make the finish reabsorb this dust. And when we do this process process, we can start the cycles of repetition.
That means applying any numbers of new coats of finish and then deciding when to sand them all up. This goes on and on until we decide we have achieved the correct milestone to stop. In this instance, it's all a matter of looks. If you like how it looks, then stop at any given interval. Since these are my instruments, I'm just worried about them being protected against humidity. That's achieved on the first coat. But I apply to extra ones to have them resistant to scratches.
And like that, we arrived at the end of this entry.
On our next look at the woodworks, we'll polish the finish and get the strings back on these instruments to start playing them after a long time.
Thanks for reading.
See you next time!
Fotos/Photos 📷: taken by me (Redmi Note 13)
Portada/Thumbnail 🖼️: by me, created with Canva.
Edición/Editing 🎬: by me, made with Adobe Photoshop Lightroom.
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