which mirotone?

[old_picker]

looking at trying out some of the mirotone lacquers
sealer, pigmented and top coats in satin and gloss
what is the one to use?

[demonx]

I don't use Mirotone myself, but I have bought and used it.

The ones you want are:

Sanding sealer (clear sealer - PU5545) (Hardner - 5747)
Miratone Clear top coat

[nnickusa]

For high gloss, I used 3220 directly onto the wood. No sanding sealer. Worked a treat, but takes a bit of practice to finish well.....

[Allen]

For my finishes its Mirotone 3220 high gloss over an epoxy pore filler. Never use Mirotone sanding sealer. It's absolutely not suited for instruments.

I use Bote Cote clear resin. No epoxy is left on the surface of the wood. It's always sanded smooth so just the pores are filled. If you are going for gloss, then don't start spraying until that surface is perfect. Lacquer is not meant to pore fill and will always sink back over time and leave you wondering where you went wrong.

Do not follow the directions on the can for reduction. It's for a one or two coat get it out the door cabinet shop. It needs to be much thinner for instruments. I thin mine out close to 100%. This allows for very thin and controlled layers. I normally use 4 - 5 thin coats. Let dry for a week. Then another 4. This is usually enough. Though occasionally if I find something that needs to be drop filled I'll have to attend that and then shoot another 2 coats.

Also, you absolutely need to add 5 - 10% extra slow thinner to the mix. Never more than that. This solvent is very expensive, but a can of it is going to last ages. But don't skip on it.

This keeps the surface open far longer and allows solvents and trapped moisture out of the wet film. The moisture is what causes "blushing" in cool or higher humidity conditions. It also aids considerably in the film flow, and thus how smooth you can get that finish straight off the gun. Saves you heaps of time and material when it comes to levelling and buffing.

[Nick]

I also epoxy fill first and don't bother with sealer, for my top coats I use the 3220, I've used many different types of finish over the years (I used to be doing solely refinishing for a number of years....or so it felt like!) but this stuff is the bee's bollocks when it comes to gloss and ease of use. You can get it pre-mixed with flattening agents to give you a semi-gloss/satin, the standard ratio's are 30% gloss (just need to look at any of Allen's satin covered Ukes for an idea of how nice that comes out!) and a 50%.

[Taffy Evans]

Yep, as Allen said. I've used Botacoat and 3220 [always used 3220] on my last few guitars and I'm very happy with it. Thanks for the other info Allen.
My "Queen of Hearts" guitar was on display at the Townsville Museum for three months recently, and I was worried about how the finish would go being in a glass display cabinet with a small spotlight on it. As it happened all was well no effects what so ever.

[demonx]

Never use Mirotone sanding sealer. It's absolutely not suited for instruments.

The Mirotone sanding sealer and clear coat I mentioned above are what was used on this guitar with no other products at all other than a polish:

If it were me, I'd replace the sanding sealer with zpozy or something similar. But each to their own as everyone has their own methods and it wasn't me who painted this guitar.

[Bob Connor]

I use the mirotone sanding sealer and the mirotone 2 pack the same as Dave Churchill did in the pics above. The sanding sealer is great. I use it on top of z-poxy and it gives an easily levelled, flat base on which to get a fantastic gloss finish. It also fills a lot of those pesky gaps you get in bindings. The sanding sealer is also great for drop filling.

The 2 pack doesn't ball up when sanded (as 3220 does) and it is ready to be buffed after a week (as opposed to 4 weeks with 3220)

Granted it's not as easy to apply and the clean up of the equipment requires specific thinners and you need to be quite anal about the gun cleaning process.

But you can speed up your finishing process considerably.

I used 3220 for the past 7 years. Moved to the 2 pack about 18 months ago and wouldn't go back.

Regards

[old_picker]

any one using used durobond lacquers??

[jeffhigh]

any one using used durobond lacquers??

yep, it's a nice traditional nitro lacquer (not Precat)

[old_picker]

bought a tin of 3220 satin plus thinners effectively 8 litres of finish
initial trial spraying a few headstock decals in reveals it be quite glossy - i had hoped for it be midway in reflectivity between matt and high gloss
apart from that i was pleased with the build, rapidity of drying, sanding etc it seemed to flow out better after the first couple coats - the wood had already been well sealed

is there a matting agent i could add to the mix?

[Allen]

You can by Mirotone in varying gloss levels. I like the 60% gloss most. The 30% gloss is too dull in my estimation.

However you could also get some 30% gloss and mix it with the full gloss 50/50 and get the 60% gloss. That way you would have a variety of finishes on hand.

[Trevor Gore]

any one using used durobond lacquers??

Yes. Thinking of changing though. The Durobond formula seems to change quite frequently, which means inconsistent results until I get it "dialed in" again. It sprays with a lot more orange peel than it used to, which I haven't been able to fix. Once upon a time, if you looked into a 4 litre can, you could see the bottom as if it was filled with water. No longer. I wish they'd go back to what it was and stop messing with it.