Collings Polish Job

[Mickey King]

So I was off work today for a doctor's appointment and had the rest of the day to kill. I recently acquired a Collings MT through a trade with a Cafe member. I've had other satin finish mandos before but this one seems more on the flat side. I got me some Meguiar's rubbing compound and polishing compound and started rubbing. I was a little nervous at first but I used to do a little paint and body work in my younger years and have done plenty of rubbings and buffing out clear coats. After about 4 hours it turned out great. I started to sand a little with 1600 grit but I stuck with polishing because I didn't know how thick the finish was. It turned out great and even I think it's a little louder now,too.

Before

After

[yankees1]

Polishing equals louder ?

[jgravois]

As the previous owner of this mando, I'm amazed and impressed. Great job, Mickey!

[darylcrisp]

thanks Mickey for posting.
i too just acquired a Collings MF and was thinking i might just polish the top, i like the back satin. So did you only use the polishing compound or did you use both, Rubbing and Polishing?

d

[Mickey King]

thanks Mickey for posting.
i too just acquired a Collings MF and was thinking i might just polish the top, i like the back satin. So did you only use the polishing compound or did you use both, Rubbing and Polishing?

d

Daryl, I used both. The rubbing compound first, then came back with the polishing compound.

[Mickey King]

Polishing equals louder ?

The compounds are actually abrasives that remove a small amount of the finish as it polished. Thinner finish=louder.

[Caleb]

Wow, I generally prefer the satin look, feel and sound, but this looks very nice. Great job, and a pretty gutsy move on such a pricey instrument!

[Jeff Mando]

It really looks great, Mickey!

[BrianWilliam]

Nice work Mickey!

[Mark Wilson]

Nice work. The Collings looks great!

I got me some Meguiar's rubbing compound and polishing compound and started rubbing.

Is this the same stuff you used?

[Mickey King]

Is this the same stuff you used?
[/QUOTE]


Yep, that's the stuff.

[HonketyHank]

I just finished doing the Mequiers job on my Collings MT-O. I would post some pix but they are so similar to the OP's (except for oval hole vs f-holes) that there is no real need. A few observations I made in the process:

1) I am not really sure about any benefit in using the polishing compound after the rubbing compound. It was difficult for me to see much difference before and after polishing. On the other hand, it is quite possible that the degree of glossiness achieved will be more permanent if it is polished after rubbing.

2) As noted, the finish on the mandolin can't be buffed to a high gloss because of the embedded flatting agent. But the degree of gloss obtainable is quite pleasant to my eye.

I am very pleased with the result.

[Marty Jacobson]

The rubbing compounds in these polishes break down as you use them. You can get a high gloss with a coarse compound if you don't keep adding coarse compound into the mix. So the polishing compound is sometimes not needed, if you've already achieved a high gloss. The only reason why it may not last is if the gloss is due to mineral oils in the compound, and those are present in higher concentrations in the finer compounds. So if you achieved a high gloss with a coarse compound, it is actually more likely to last long term than a finer compound used which looks the same initially.

[Jeff Mando]

Looks great, Mickey!

So you can see that a satin finish instrument basically saves the maker four hours manufacturing time/labor.

[Caleb]

I've thought a lot about doing this to my MT since this thread started. The "gloss" look achieved here looks better to me than a traditional gloss job from the maker - those appear too glossy for me most times, too perfect, but this look is just right. My favorite look, however, is a satin finish that has been worn down with time and use to look more like an old violin's finish. I think I'm going to let mine do that naturally, which will just take a lot of time. If I had two mandolins though, I would definitely polish one up like the OP.

[Denman John]

Great job and I like end result!

I did a couple of satin finished acoustic guitars and much preferred it to the original finish. Great way to get to know your mandolin as well. Makes me kinda wish I had a satin finished mando

[MikeZito]

Nice! Looks like I may have to take a run to the auto store!

Thanks for sharing!

[Svea]

It looks very nice, but I prefer to leave my Collings MT as is from the maker. I also wouldn't purchase a used mandolin that had the finish messed with like that. I like things as original as possible. But that is just my own preference.

Svea

[Stop]

Mickey
I did the same several years back with an MT. Just used Meguiers #9, same result. Your looks great

[HoGo]

Looks great, Mickey!

So you can see that a satin finish instrument basically saves the maker four hours manufacturing time/labor.

I'd say it saves them 15-20 minutes at buffing wheel. No one at a factory would do this by hand these days.
BTW, I love the look, allows much more light go to the wood and shows the nice figure of wood. The dull satin just scatters light at the surface and obscures beauty of the wood.
Hank/Mickey, how much gloss could you get? Are you sure there is flattening agent added? On many cheaper guitars the finish is not really satin but on the final coat the atomization of the gun creates the surface texture that appears like satin and will be polished out with use (or with compound if you help it).

[HonketyHank]

Adrian, I did not examine the finish under a strong magnifier as I was buffing, but I did 'eyeball' it frequently. It seemed to me that the initial surface roughness was smoothed out fairly well with a minimum of buffing effort. To me, that supports your suggestion that there is atomization of the lacquer for the final spray coat.

Additional buffing smoothed the finish more, but the effect was relatively small for the amount of effort. I buffed until I couldn't see any significant difference before and after. The surfaces I buffed are not as smooth and glossy as the MT's neck, presumably smoothed out by 10 years of playing (I suspect that this mandolin was not played a lot, though, prior to my purchase a year ago). The neck is very close to a true gloss finish, but there is still a bit of a diffuse edge to reflections of a light source. The other surfaces (which I buffed out) have more diffuse reflections but you can still see into the finish and get an impression of depth and warmth.

I guess I could note here that in addition to the difference in appearance, there is a difference in the tactile experience of just holding the mandolin which I find appealing. Perhaps this further reinforces the idea that a lot of the 'satin' finish has to do with surface texture as opposed to flatting agents.

[Hudmister]

BTW, I love the look, allows much more light go to the wood and shows the nice figure of wood. The dull satin just scatters light at the surface and obscures beauty of the wood.

I agree with HoGo, the gloss finish really brings the beautiful wood alive. I did my Eastman MDO305 octave mandolin with Mothers Mag & Aluminum polish. Took me over four hours during a couple of days using two fingers and a soft cotton cloth and then a final polish with Virtuoso Instrument polish.

[Jim1954]

Nice looking mandos! On my MT, I just used Virtuoso Premium Polish (high quality, made for musical instruments) on very soft cotton flannel. I easily got an even, consistent semi-gloss I guess you would call it. I buffed entire instrument and couldn’t be happier with results, felt like I got a new mandolin.

I wasn’t expecting to like this gloss so much, before buffing I wished I had a mirror-like gloss model but totally satisfied now with this gloss, although the Collings gloss is great too. It’s hard to show how good it looks in photos but you can see part of my face in two so shows the gloss I got.

I’ve buffed Martin guitar satin headstocks to gloss with Virtuoso but knew I had to use much less pressure on thin wood. Martin’s satin needed a lot of pressure. Luckily the pressure needed on the MT was about like polishing it, not hard pressure.

I called Collings before buffing, a rep said their satin finish is thinner than their gloss, he was concerned I may buff through it but it seems he thought I was going to use a buffing machine, abrasive products and/or “wet-sanding” as some do. When I told him about my method, he didn't seem concerned and I felt confident about not damaging it.

My big concern was getting the bridge back in same place, but with precise measurements and photos, I easily did. I worked in a production job for awhile and a bit of a handyman so all this was easy for me.