Name withheld to protect the guilty!
One of the most talented young luthiers in my shop is  . When  does a fret job, he does it right. But even can make a mistake! For example, the scratch on this gorgeous Les Paul’s birdseye maple top. Time for an emergency lacquer repair!
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While reinstalling this pickup mounting ring, a stubborn screw “made” the screwdriver jump onto the top. This made a nasty scratch/dent combo right where it shows. Instead of freaking out, I calmly said,
“Don’t worry,  , we can make this disappear. But let's get started — in case the customer shows up early carrying a weapon!”
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Here’s the fix: |
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I poured a nickel-sized drop of lacquer onto the bottom of a plastic dairy carton, and let it sit for an hour to thicken. I put a small amount of acetone into a plastic mixing cup. A repair magnet in the bottom of the cup holds it to the metal lacquer can so it won’t spill.
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With a small artist's brush, I place a drop of acetone on the dent to soften it and prepare it to accept a drop of lacquer.
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I use the same brush (still damp with acetone) to place a drop of lacquer onto the dent, and spread the lacquer evenly out onto the surrounding finish.
(While we’re looking at this photo, check out the nicely-shaped fret ends.
Good work, !)
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Within an hour the perfect-looking drop of lacquer had shrunk — sinking in the center, so it’s mounding up at the edges. After four or five hours I added a second drop. It too will shrink back, so I repeat this drop-fill several times over two days using a smaller drop of lacquer each time.
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Now for the “shave” part
of this “close shave” story: |
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Once the drop stops shrinking, the crater looks filled, and the finish has hardened overnight, I go to the next stage: scraping the drop fill flush. I do this with a fresh single-edge razor blade on which I create a burr by drawing the sharp edge against a steel vise jaw. I always draw the burr toward the side of the blade that has letters on it; that way I can remember which way the burr is facing. I want the burr turned in the direction I’m scraping.
I don't use the razor blade as-is; instead, I use a tip I learned from my pal Frank Ford: wrap cellophane tape over the sharp edge on each side of center — leaving only enough blade exposed to cover the width of the drop fill. The tape is .002" thick — enabling me to scrape the fill level, and within .002" of the surrounding finish.
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The “burr” is
a slight hook
added to the
sharp edge. |
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Strip-sanding 1: dry |
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I call this “strip-sanding”: pulling narrow strips of sandpaper across the fill under gentle fingertip pressure. I start with 400-grit Fre-Cut gold sandpaper, then work my way through 600, and 800-grit. Then I move up to micro finishing papers: 800, 1000, 1200, 1500, and 2000. Each strip is pulled across the fill once or twice. The razor removed most of the drop, so this whole operation happens fast — all the grits within a minute or so.
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Pull the strips through your fingers a few times to curl them up a bit. This way they don't lay flat, so just a precise little bit of the sanding surface touches the lacquer. |
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Strip-sanding 2: wet |
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Now I switch to Micro-Mesh pads used wet — starting with 3600-grit, and followed by, 4000-, 6000-, 8000- and finally 12000-grit. This leaves an impeccably-smooth surface, that just needs a little buffing.
Here’s a little clothespin trick: turn the wooden pieces around on a spring clothespin, and you get a useful little clamp with tapered jaws instead of the normal blunt ends of a clothespin. Here’s one holding my bunch of sanding strips ready for the next emergency.
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Buff and polish |
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My first buffing is with #2 medium polishing compound on a pad of soft paper towel. I buff in a circular-pattern, much like French polishing.
After the polishing compound, I repeat the circular buffing (with a fresh paper towel) using Preservation Polish for a high gloss.
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This came out great, so can finally come out of hiding! Should we tell the customer about this? Or should we lay low?
We’re thinkin’ about it...
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