Nitro in aerosol in NZ

[Yeti]

Hey guys its been a while

I'm really sorry if this has been asked before, I did try and search it but my google-fu seems to be lacking these days.

Anyway its basically in the title, are their paint suppliers who sell Nitro paint and lacquer for guitar finishing in NZ and in Aerosol?

My old man is putting together a kit guitar and wants to finish it 'in something classy' so I suggested Nitro, but he's not sure where to get it and I still live on the opposite side of the world (for now XD ) and IIRC you cannot send aerosols to NZ can you?

Otherwise I'd send him a kit from Rothko & Frost and it'd be done.

Failing that is there anywhere to get Nitro paint and Lacquer in NZ thats not aerosol? I suppose we could always borrow someones spray rig. Anyway any advice from you guys would be most appreciated.

Cheers
Ben

[seeaxe]

Hi Ben

I used Dulux clear spray cans from Bunnings/Mitre 10 for my first few guitars, they work well enough if you are patient. This is nitro, and you need a good mask. Your neighbours wont like you much if you do it in the back yard. Dulux also do a plastic finish, as do others. If you are using the rattle cans I recommend one of those cheap can holders that make it like a gun.... easier on the fingers. Very economical finish, one or two cans at the most, under $30

If you want to go for a proper spraygun finish, there is a place in Auckland that sells Mirotone which seems to the be the coating of choice among many, they are in East Tamaki. I cant remember exactly where but I found them by googling. As for spray rigs, if you are going to go to the trouble of borrowing one, why not just get someone to spray it for you? There is a lot of skill in a good spray finish. (at least a lot more skill than I have )

I seemed to have lost my rattle can mojo and the last few guitars were disasters so I have recently converted to French polish. Its easier than it looks, very easy to set up and work with and if done well will look as good as nitro. Cheaper than nitro and useful for many other woodwork projects.

Then there's a guy round the corner from me who sells his classical guitars for 3 to 6k, he uses floor varnish! Go figure.

Hope that helps.

[Yeti]

Awesome, thanks Richard!

I think the Dulux rattle can Nitro will be the way to go, I assume they do solid colours as well though?
I should have mentioned my Dad's building a solid body and I plan to build solid bodies when I get back too. We both wanted to use Nitro as my Dad and I think it ages nicely, especially on road worn guitars.

Good to know about the can-trigger-gun-thingie as I was wondering if that would be a good move, I will pass it on to him. Thankfully my dads neighbours are about a half km away so I think we will only bother the native bush

I hear what you are saying about spraying being an art, I was helping a friend build an SG here in Europe last summer (for us) and we used Rothko and Frost products. It was a challenge to do it well, and it didn't come out perfect but we were pretty satisfied with it as the build was for my mate and that SG became his main road dog. Its beaten to hell but looks lovely.

Thanks for the heads up about the french polish, it might be nice to try on a guitar that I plan to keep more natural looking. I've also heard from some guys here that wipe on poly from (I think) min wax is really good if you want to do a gloss or satin clear on natural finish guitars, I dunno if thats available in NZ.

Good to know about the guy in Tamaki too, I guess if I ever build for someone other than myself then maybe I will look into it.

Cheer!
Ben

[Mark McLean]

When you say your Dad wants "something classy", does it need to be thick and shiny and glass-like, as in most factory built guitars? An alternative which is much easier & cheaper & healthier & fool-proof for the home luthier is a hand applied oil finish. Something like Tru-Oil, Hard Wax Oil, or even Danish oil will give a nice result, just rubbed on with a cloth. Google Tru-Oil on guitars and you will see that people can get very glossy finishes if you build up enough layers and then go through all of the wet-sanding routine as you would need to do for nitro. If you like a more satin finish then just a few hand-applied coats followed by some buffing and Bob will be your uncle. And still looks classy IMHO.

[Yeti]

Hi Mark

Thanks for the suggestion, it was actually the first thing I suggested to my Dad as I was thinking along similar lines for my first build because Tru or Danish oil are inexpensive and fairly easy to apply. But he'd seen one of those Gibson coffee table books when he was visiting me over the summer and fell in love with the slight wear on one of the VOS Gold Tops and a creme Alpine white Custom, plus the kit he's built has a pretty unremarkable maple veneer on the top he wants to cover.

I've watched quite a few tutorials on the Danish Oil method and spoken with a bunch of other guys on some of the bigger international forums, it looks great and I think if I get the timber and skill to put together something maybe that would look sexy in natural, perhaps with native wood, I will probably give it a spin. I agree a well applied oil finish does look classy.

Cheers.

[Mark McLean]

OK, true enough. A "natural" oil finish can only look as good as the timber underneath. If you want a solid colour on a solid body guitar you are probably going to need to spray something. Unless you go for the "swirl" effect where the only equipment you need is a bucket of water.
Mark

[Nick]

Not sure if your dad had a "Spraystore" in Auckland or any other similar motor trade finish supplier but they can mix any colour up and put it in a spray can for you, if they can do colours then a clear is no problem I'm guessing. As they supply the motor industry the finish won't be Nitro but Acrylic Lacquer but I used that for many years with good results. I started out (many, many years ago ) using spray bombs but as Richard pointed out, they take longer to cure so thin layers and plenty of drying time in between seems to be the secret with these,

[seeaxe]

Hi Ben,

Yep solid colours are no problem but the range is pretty limited. Nicks suggestion is worth following up, there's a place in Wairau road I think does car paint and I have heard others talking about getting what you need in rattle cans, so must be possible. Might be better paint?

Another thing worth doing is building some kind of device to let you turn the body easily. Like a turntable, lazy Susan etc. Hanging it from a piece of wire from the roof means you have to move instead.

I think my mistake was to try to put too much on, too fast. If you search for a couple of Nicks guitars, you will see his advice is worth following. Allen from Queensland also has a very good tutorial on spraying on the forum. If it all turns to custard it's pretty easy to take it all off and start again. On this point, at least, I can speak with some experience

Whereabouts in Auckland is Dad? North or south?

Cheers
Richard

[jeffhigh]

Agree on acrylic lacquer for a solid colour, I'm doing one now.(a refinish unsuited to clear)
Large spraycan primer/surfacer is useful under the colour coat.

[Yeti]

Hi Guys

Awesome responses, thanks. I should clarify my Dad lives in Hawks Bay not Auckland, I think I confused the issue when I noted the guy in Tamaki as I grew up in AK many a year ago, and vaguely remember hearing something about someone out that way who'd painted guitars.

I will look up the tutorials you guys recommend, I've seen some on other sites and yes a lazy Susan type deal looks like a really good idea. I guess we will see what my Dad can do, he may hang the guitar. I'm hoping he will generate some pics that I can share here, but I'm not totally sure he has mastered photo sharing yet (his computer-fu is pretty solid for a 66 year old but some things are forthcoming)

Thanks also for the acrylic suggestion, it might be another avenue for when I get back and start to build if the Nitro rout is bust, or if I can't do get the colours I want. Google tells me there isn't a Spraystore in either Napier or Hastings, but Im sure there is something similar. We had boy racers like the rest of NZ so there's bound to be an option if we need to go acrylic.

I switched my Dad on to Mitre 10/Bunnings for the Nitro, even with limited colours it should be fine as I think he's planning on doing something simple in a solid colour for this one. I will likely do the same for the first one as I'm obsessed with the idea of plane white Les Pauls and SG's for some reason. Anyway if I can't get pics of his, there will be mine next summer (NZ time that is) after I finish that Ma and move back.

Cheers guys and thanks again
I'm looking forward to actually contribute something more than discussion points