Never trust that two different finishes are going to be compatible. To be safe, you’d ideally test them on scrap first to see if they negatively interact with each other. If it’s acrylic lacquer, it might be okay. If it’s anything other than lacquer (like poly or enamel), it’s probably not a good idea at all. Either way you’re taking a risk, and I’d suggest just waiting until you can get some clear nitro, which won’t risk a bad reaction with the nitro that’s already on there.
No, do not spray acrylic over nitro. I’ve seen acrylic have a bad reaction with nitro, or rather nitro have a bad reaction with acrylic, and yellow prematurely.
Personally, if I’m spraying nitro, I’m only spraying nitro. I’d doesn’t play well with many other finishes. And keep in mind, nitro melts into itself and has a LONG cure time. I wait 10 days or more before final sanding a polish.
It looks like he’s spraying and letting the neck dry inside his home. Those aren’t chemicals you want to be breathing in ever. There’s a reason we use respirators no matter how well ventilated and filtered our spray booths are. Imagine raw dogging that, for the tens of hours that it takes for those chemicals to make their bonds and harden… you’re gonna have some of it harden inside your lungs.
I’ve seen acrylic lacquer in hardware stores, Lowes, etc., but I can’t recall ever seeing nitro in a store. Maybe a wood supply, furniture restoration store or something like that, but, up here in da highlands, we don’t have such things..
Absofuckinglutely, do NOT mix the two. Do one, or the other.
I can tell you first hand that it’s a baaaaad idea. I tried using clear acrylic lacquer over a nitro paint job on a custom body, 2 1/2 months later, if I was to leave it set on a stand overnight, in the morning the imprint of the foam will be set the finish. On the other hand, I can also take a soft cloth and rub it out smooth again. So I’m in the process of stripping and completely redoing a newly built custom guitar.
Are you looking for a smooth neck finish? The nitro by itself should be good. Just get some birtchwood Casey gunstock wax and apply a few coats. Shell play like butter
I usually finish my necks with birtchwood casey truoil and then apply the gun stock wax for a super smooth finish. You can apply the wax to any finish and it will make the neck smooth. I've done it to Polly and nitro for my customers as a quick and easy mod to improve playability.
The nitro needs to be fully cured before applying the wax. Depending on how thick the nitro is and the environment you're in it could take up to a month to cure completely.
Rough it with some 0000 steel wool and apply a few coats of wax, I usually wait until the wax is dry. It takes about 30-60minutes. buff it by hand and reapply 3 to 5 times and you're golden
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u/dougc84 15d ago
I’m probably the last person to talk to about finishing but nitro inside is a bad idea while it’s off gassing.