Buffing

     Many people wonder how they get guitars, pianos, and other instruments so shiny. Well I'll tell you. In order to achieve this "Piano Key" finish the secret is buffing. Buffing is when a paste or compound is applied with a rag or Buffing Wheel to the surface until desired shine can be seen. I used a buffing Compound from Stew Mac, a guitar parts company. I also bought a foam buffing wheel from them that can attach to a to a drill for easy maneuvering.

     To buff, I had someone hold the guitar in front in order to reach every crevice. I applied 2 coats and then wiped the excess off with a clean rag. After buffing I applied Stew Mac Swirl Remover to the surface, sides, and back. This got rid of any marks that the powered wheel might have made. Now we have gloss.

Smoothing

     After about 10 coats of gold paint, clear coats will then be applied. The type of clear that is best for this project would be Polyoxide Spar Urethane. You may have heard of polyurethane which is similar to polyoxide except polyoxide is water based and polyurethane is oil based. The benefit of using a water based paint is its less messy, easy to clean, and there are few toxic chemicals so its safer to paint outside. When painting, always use a mask. I have one that has two air filters since I frequently paint. 15 coats of clear is recommended or until a thick layer is achieved.

     The next step after painting is the micro mesh sanding and buffing. Start out with lightly wet sanding the entire body with 600 grit sandpaper then repeat the process with the following grits of sandpaper in this order: 1200, 1600, 1800, 2200, 2600, 3600, 4000, 5500, 6000, 12000. For those that don't know sand paper is a sheet of rough paper with small granules on it in order to smooth and level a surface. The higher the number the more granules there are and the finer the sand. 12000 feels like a piece of leather and that is what makes the glossy surface.