Water based Finish

[amowry]

I’m a firm believer that if you never buff through a finish, you’re not doing it right

[Marty Jacobson]

I’m a firm believer that if you never buff through a finish, you’re not doing it right

It's gotten to the point that when I come in and tell my wife that I'm ready to buff out an instrument she says "Awesome, spray three more coats..."

[bpatrick]

It's gotten to the point that when I come in and tell my wife that I'm ready to buff out an instrument she says "Awesome, spray three more coats..."

LOL - Totally agree.

[Joe Mendel]

I have been using EM6000 for several years and I think its wonderful stuff. I tried KTM9 and it turned me off water based finishes for years, it was absolutely horrible for me. I interviewed Jay Lichty and he was using EM6000 lacquer, I scoffed, he said that EM6000 makes KTM9 look like the crap that it is, and talked me into giving it a try. I've used it ever since without problems. Is it perfect? No. Is it very good? in my opinion, absolutely! I've had several well known builders look at my instruments at several shows and more than one were surprised that my finish isn't nitro cellulose. Learning any finish takes some work, I like to think I've learned to use this one pretty well. I just bought some EM2000 varnish and will be trying it soon.

By the way John Hamlett, it was Rick Turner who said the main ingredient in water based finishes is wishful thinking.

[darylcrisp]

here are some pictures of an octave that Max Girouard built. I'm trying to find the email where he told me the name of the finish used, I do remember it was a water based varnish. It seemed thin, very beautiful, didn't have a blue tint, very durable. Was not like previous varnish finish instruments I have owned with regards to acquiring scratches and marks easily. I may be mistaken, but I think he and his wife worked around Rolf for a while, or lived near enough to visit him every now and then. Assuming he learned of this sort of finish maybe thru Rolf.

[Marty Jacobson]

Iy the way John Hamlett, it was Rick Turner who said the main ingredient in water based finishes is wishful thinking.

That might have been true prior to 1990 or so. Jeff Weiss of Target Coatings (maker of EM-xxxx finishes) and Tom and Sheryl Monahan (General Finishes) both made it their life's work to figure out the chemistry involved in waterborne/waterbased finishes. I also have a can of EM2000 and I will give it a try soon.

BTW the Minwax oil-modified waterbased polyurethane for sale at Home Depot appears to be very similar, functionally identical, to Enduro-Var, at 25% of the cost-- and maybe better clarity?

[bpatrick]

The KTM-9 finish on a dread guitar I constructed in 2015 blistered and was coming off in places where the owner came in contact with the guitar. I had posted some questions about it a few months ago. The wood grain of the guitar's sides, back, and neck was filled and sealed with Z-Poxy filler. The top received a coat of shellac only. I applied the KTM-9 directly over the Z-poxy. It is my assumption that the combination of the owner's sweat and lack of shellac sealer between the Z-Poxy and top coat caused the finish separation (the guitar top sealed with shellac showed little sign of finish separation).

There's also the possibility that the KTM-9 was just not good. The guitar was stripped and Z-Poxy used again to fill the grain. The entire guitar received a thin sealer coat of shellac and then a thin finish coat of Target EM6000. After 6 months, the new finish seems to be doing well. Hopefully, it will stay that way.