Aerosol Guitar Finishing – Part 1 – Prep Sanding, Pore Filling and Sealer Coats

If you're new to guitar finishing, you've come to the right place. This is StewMac's step-by-step guitar finishing course. In this 3-part series we show you exactly what you need to do to get a professional-quality guitar finish at home using aerosol lacquers. *The results are pretty amazing*

This series has been months in the making and covers it all:

How to finish a guitar body
How to finish a guitar neck
How to repaint a guitar / refinish a guitar

All using nitro aerosol finishes.

It's perfect for anyone - no experience necessary! You really CAN get a pro-quality result (even on your first try) if you follow these steps.

** EPISODE 1: covers prep sanding, pore filling and applying sealer coats. **

00:00 Intro
02:48 Overview - A Great Finish Starts with a Great Prep
05:13 Inspection, Fixing Dents & Prep Sanding
05:58 Fixing a Dent
09:14 Sanding Basics
12:06 Sanding the guitar
23:09 Masking off the Fingerboard
26:51 Prep Steps if you are REFINISHING a guitar
28:51 Pore Filling
36:21 Applying the Pore Fill
43:23 Sanding the Pore Fill
49:24 Inspecting the Pore Fill
50:56 Applying Vinyl Sealer
51:55 Spraying Safety & Logistics
56:35 Choosing the Right Finish
57:53 Tips for Spraying Aerosols
01:02:05 Spraying the Vinyl Sealer
01:04:55 Sanding the Vinyl Sealer Coat
01:07:38 What’s Next?

We'd like to give a huge shoutout to Chris and Matt @Driftwood Guitars (   / @driftwoodguitars  ) for helping us with this series. Thanks so much guys, it was a blast shooting this series with you!

** ITEMS USED IN THIS VIDEO INCLUDE: **

Wilkinson Guitar Kit
https://www.stewmac.com/item/6282

Sanding Block for Self-Adhesive Sandpaper
https://www.stewmac.com/item/3699

Micro-mesh Foam Sanding Block
https://www.stewmac.com/item/3701

3M Stikit Gold Abrasives Roll
https://www.stewmac.com/item/5768

Respirator Mask
https://www.stewmac.com/item/5879

OptiVISOR
https://www.stewmac.com/item/1685

Naphtha
https://www.stewmac.com/item/0766

Blue Painter's Tape
https://www.stewmac.com/item/2332

ColorTone Powdered Grain Filler
https://www.stewmac.com/item/0269

Mixing Cups, Set of 10
https://www.stewmac.com/item/4199

Grain Filler Leveler
https://www.stewmac.com/item/4939

Guitar Finish Step-by-Step Book
https://www.stewmac.com/item/5095

ColorTone Vinyl Sealer
https://www.stewmac.com/item/3884

Aerosol Spray Nozzles
https://www.stewmac.com/item/5058


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