I bet a lot of forum members are sick of the sight of the “Recent Posts” being clogged up with this thread every day.
@boo I'd say that's more an issue with the system than the posts, it would probably be more helpful if that list just showed the last entry per thread.
@deej Check this thread out Deej, let’s have a bit of a change. 😂 (not that much)
https://guitarmaking.co.uk/community/finishing/pickup-covers/
Make guitars, not war 🌍✌️🎸
OMG @boo do you want to move into my house
OMG @boo do you want to move into my house
Probably only if you move to Scottyland first.
I’ve told you before, I think we should all move to Scotland 🏴
Now I’ve joined the SNP, I am feeling more integrated by the day.
Make guitars, not war 🌍✌️🎸
Do you like my birthday cake? My wife has a good sense of humour. It’s as colourful as my guitar painting but I think it needs a few touch ups with my airbrush. There is more sugar and jam than cake, I can feel my teeth dissolving. Very tasty though. 😋😋
Make guitars, not war 🌍✌️🎸
@boo, can you explain why the ordinary tins of chameleon paints seem to be so much more expensive than the spray cans? I'd expect it to be the other way round if anything.
Custom Paints Chromacoat
400ml spray can £19.99
500ml tin £134.99
can you explain why the ordinary tins of chameleon paints seem to be so much more expensive than the spray cans? I'd expect it to be the other way round if anything.
Custom Paints Chromacoat
400ml spray can £19.99
500ml tin £134.99
@jonhodgson Yeah, rattle cans don’t actually have that much paint in them, a lot of the contents is the propellant. It’s also “ready to spray”.
When it is sold in tins, most of the time (not always) it is more concentrated and not ready to pour into a spray gun, it needs thinning further. It’s not just with chameleon paint, any auto paint supplies will sell any vehicle colour paint in this form. A chameleon colour is a secondary colour coat, sprayed over a ground coat colour, usually black for maximum effect.
It’s up to the painter to mix the paint to the correct viscosity for the spray gun. 500ml of any base coat will go a lot further than a rattle can, it’s misleading that the amount written on the cans is actually the amount of usable paint.
Not all paints are created equal. Some paints reach opacity quite quickly so you do t need as much, depending on the application yet other paints can take several more coats to reach opacity.
If you see a tin of paint that is ready to use in a spray gun, you may think that is cheaper and a good deal, it’s not. You are paying for less paint and for someone to mix it so it’s ready to use, all you have to do is pour and spray.
Rattle cans and “ready to use” paint is not cost effective, it’s a really expensive way of buying paint compared to buying a concentrated amount.
Does that make sense? I’m not always the best at typing out explanations.
Make guitars, not war 🌍✌️🎸
It makes perfect sense, I thought it was probably something along those lines (logically you either had to get "more" paint or "better" paint really), but the size of the apparent discrepancy was what was shocking me most.
From Brad Angove's video it does seem that a single can will easily do a guitar, so while that may not be the most economical way to do it on a per guitar basis (especially for someone who's already all geared up like yourself), it does make it doable on a one off basis (though perhaps not for doing more specialized effects like the burst, which I imagine require more control over your spraying), so I can at least keep a chameleon finish on my todo list.
One thing I have been wondering is what the result would be of laying down a chameleon finish, then putting Culture Hustle's "Diamond Dust" on top of that before clearcoating. The light would get refracted through the diamond dust, which would mean it was hitting the chameleon paint at various angles even on a flat surface.
Or I guess you could texture the surface first, so it wasn't actually flat
Oooh, that brings up another idea. Sandblast ash (or similar) to get a raised grain effect pattern (prs did a limited series based on that technique), then chameleon paint.
So many ideas and I still haven't started on just testing wood stains and topcoats, let alone building a guitar!!
From Brad Angove's video it does seem that a single can will easily do a guitar, so while that may not be the most economical way to do it on a per guitar basis (especially for someone who's already all geared up like yourself), it does make it doable on a one off basis (though perhaps not for doing more specialized effects like the burst, which I imagine require more control over your spraying), so I can at least keep a chameleon finish on my todo list.
@jonhodgson Yeah, Brad shows us that it is “possible” to use a lot of these paints using rattle cans and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that but there are a few things to consider.
1/ There is less control with a rattle can in that you can’t regulate the air pressure or the paint flow. Also, most of them only come with a standard release button which only sends paint out in one particular way, there is no fan adjustment, although some more expensive rattle cans do come with an adjustable nozzle.
2/ The paint is thinner and is more likely to run and/or sag during application, if you are not careful. This means you must apply thinner coats, lots of them and that depletes the amount of paint in your rattle can quite quickly.
3/ Some special effects paint need more control during application and if you have something that is an awkward shape or that has difficult to reach places, such as a guitar, getting the full effect consistently can be problematic.
Make guitars, not war 🌍✌️🎸
One thing I have been wondering is what the result would be of laying down a chameleon finish, then putting Culture Hustle's "Diamond Dust" on top of that before clearcoating. The light would get refracted through the diamond dust, which would mean it was hitting the chameleon paint at various angles even on a flat surface.
@jonhodgson It’s always good fun coming up with ideas and experimenting but too much of a good thing can be a bad thing. The best flip effect, the ones that are the most pronounced, are the two coloured ones. The more colours you add into the mix, the less effective the flip effect becomes as they are all competing with each other and the human eyes and brain can only process a certain amount of visual information. I know this because my cameras fail to pick up the full effect of some paints I try to photograph and even video, there is too much information to process it all. Cameras are just replicating our eyes and brains, some things they are far superior at and some things they are not.
I like the idea of using these paints on uneven surfaces such as sand blasted wood, it’s worth an experiment.
I’ve got lots of experimenting to do this year with paint. Watch this space.
Make guitars, not war 🌍✌️🎸
That explanation works for me, makes total sense.
@mattbeels Thanks man 🤘
Make guitars, not war 🌍✌️🎸
When it is sold in tins, most of the time (not always) it is more concentrated and not ready to pour into a spray gun, it needs thinning further.
So, @Boo, next question is how many guitars would you be able to spray with that expensive tin of paint, once thinned appropriately?
And my follow-on question is that I guess the total cost of a spray job is *mainly* the labour cost rather than the materials cost, but is that right?
Online guitar making courses – guitarmaking.co.uk
next question is how many guitars would you be able to spray with that expensive tin of paint, once thinned appropriately?
@tv101 That I don’t know yet, I will have a better idea once I’ve used it.
And my follow-on question is that I guess the total cost of a spray job is *mainly* the labour cost rather than the materials cost, but is that right?
Yes, people can choose really expensive paints sometimes and that obviously adds more to the cost. People just see some paint that they like and say “how much is that?” Or “I’ve priced up some paint that I want so how much would you charge to paint my stuff?”. Fancy paints usually need a paint or product that goes underneath it first and that needs another paint or product under that, and so on. So, there are a lot of paint products as well as sundry products and cleaning products needed. Also, running costs and wear and tear of machinery, electricity, heating and PPE needed.
Yes a lot of the final price is for labour but that is also for the time spent learning how to do it. It costs money for college courses, there are times spent working for less money as a trainee, there are specialist tools that are needed and most of all you are paying for expertise, experience, skills and even talent.
Paintwork, whatever it is on, is not cheap. If it is then I would argue that that person does not know their worth or they are just after a quick, sub standard job for a bit of cash.
Nobody should under sell themselves if they have taken the time to go through all of of that to produce top quality paintwork. It’s not to be arrogant about it but knowing your worth.
Make guitars, not war 🌍✌️🎸