Problems Curing Solarez ICBINL
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- čas přidán 5. 06. 2023
- If you've had problems curing Solarez ICBINL, let's try to figure it out together.
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I am a professional furniture maker located in Santa Barbara, California. I recently (last month) completed a dining table in Wenge wood. I used ICBINL to fill the huge pores in the wood.
I would squeegee a coat onto the table, and roll it out to the driveway to cure. It was in direct mid day sun. I found that it would cure OK, but with a sticky surface. The stickiness would sand off easily, and expose a cured finished underneath. I learned to apply three coats in succession without sanding in between, and do all my level sanding on the last coat. After the 4th coat of ICBINL (yeah, it took that any coats to fill those huge pores in Wenge), I sprayed on a water based polyurethane. Overall it worked well, yielding a smooth finish.
But I did have a major problem with the ICBINL turning white and crystal like in the pores of the wood. I contacted the manufacturer, and was told to wash the surface of the wood down with acetone before applying the ICBINL. I tried this, and even used a brass wire brush to really clean out the pores. I still had problems. What I found that worked was spraying on two coats of dewaxed shellac before applying the ICBINL.
In the end, I'm pleased with the product though I had some real travails learning how to use it. I still think it's the best option for filling pores.
Thanks for...shedding light on this subject, Chris. 😆
Shedding the UV light-no pun intended 🤣
Well played 😏
I've used this product a few times, and it remained tacky after about 10 minutes of direct sunlight. I live in northeastern Pennsylvania at an altitude of approximately 100 feet above sea level. I applied the product on a sunny day in summer. (I don't recall the time of day.)
Although the product was still tacky, I decided to sand it. As soon as I sanded the slightest bit, I got down to a fully cured finish. I completed the sand/buff/polish operations without incident.
Thank you for your excellent content.
You can't apply it over a stain without sealing the stain first. The stain gets lifted into the finish and blocks the UV light, preventing curing. You must use a sealer in very light coats to lock the stain in first.
That actually sounds like it would look cool.
I'm in Evergreen, CO at 7,850 ASL. I've used this product on 3 guitars for grain filling with excellent success. I use foam brushes and give it time to flow out/level, then expose to the sun for 10 mins. I've applied before and after work, cloudy or sunny, and with the sun at a low azimuth. It has cured hard every time and sands easily. I buy the small bottles and they have been consistent. I won't use anything else now.
Based on your recommendation I tried both the ICBINL grain filler and brush on topcoat. I'm an hour and a half north of Montreal, Canada, and I applied both products on a sunny summer's day. The grain filler worked beautifully. I found I could apply it as thick as I wanted and it cured hard and clear within a few minutes, and of course sanded nicely. The brush on formula, under the exact same conditions, always left a tacky surface. It also didn't level the same way. In fact, give it a little time and what was laying neatly with brush strokes on top of the guitar would part like the Red Sea. So if you never had this problem with the brush on topcoat I suspect some of the bottles that left their factory were no good.
I raised the issue with the company and a fellow named Gary asked if I'd bought it from Amazon, because they'd had similar issues with what may have been expired stock. I emailed a copy of the bill showing I purchased it directly from Solarez. Then he said he'd have to get his hands on the product so he could "get to the bottom of this." I asked how I could send it back, and he didn't get back to me. I tried again and he continued to ghost me. So I wrote it off and swore I'd never buy another product from them. I still have the emails if you'd like to see them, and I still have what I believe to be a defective bottle of the brush on formula.
The woods I tried the brush on formula with were ash and maple. The ash had already been filled with the ICBINL grain filler.
I have been waiting for this one. I have been experimenting with it for a few months. It is picky about what you apply it over. I couldn't get it to cure at all when used over Crystalac "It's knot shellac". It does cure over the Bright tone lacquer though. I like the grain filler, especially when used with the Solarez microbaloons. It does take multiple coats to really fill the grain, but you can easily do 3 an hour. I let it cure for at least 10 minutes here in the hot Alabama sun. It does feel a little tacky on the very surface, but it is really cured. I have issues with the ICNINL though. If I apply it very thin, it seems to disappear when level sanding. If I apply it thicker, it never seems to level. I have left it over night, and it still hasn't leveled. It also forms bubbles that only go away if I sand all the way to wood. I have tried heating it to thin it. It does thin out, but thickens back up when applied to wood. I even put the coated wood in a microwave to warm it, but the stuff still wont flow out. I have yet to get it to take a finish sand and buff. The buffed finish is blotchy. I found that it can be tinted. You have to use an alcohol based dye, and it has to be very concentrated. If you use much, it inhibits curing. I have yet to find a way to thin it. I have been experimenting lately with the Polyester Solarez. If I can get it to level out, I think I will like it better.
Thanks for all the years of great info, good sir!
You bet!
I build on average 5 guitars a week and use this product exclusively with 80% of my builds. I only build electric guitars and use mostly Catalpa, Ash and Alder. I started using on a recommendation of a friend and your channel. I live in st. louis , mo and have never had an issue with ICBINL. I use it all year, winter/summer and absolutely love it! I will say I did buy a UV lamp to use on days that are rainy or really cloudy like in the winter. Thanks Chris! Love your channel, I purchased my gun on your recommendation too, and it was a game changer!
Tried both the grain filler and high gloss ICBINL formulas on a scrap piece of poplar initially sanded to 320 grit.
I am in South Florida, so no issues with UV.
All I can say is that this is a game changer for me!
I still have to do some durability testing, but it is amazing so far!
Flat sands beautifully! Quite amazing!
I used this stuff worked just as you have described. Location: Chicago. Date: 12/12/2023. Time of day: 2:00 PM - 3:00 PM.
Hi, I tried this product on a kit guitar after watching your videos. I live in Arizona, and had plenty of sun on the days that I used this. I started with the neck of the guitar, using the same wipe on methods you displayed in your video.... It worked out great. Did multiple coats on the neck and they all cured exactly as I expected it to. However!! When I moved on to the body of the guitar, I began getting coats that never seemed to really dry. It felt tacky.
My wife bought the kit herself and doesn't remember what the wood was (and she 100% never knew what it was in the first place). It's a porous wood though, I used some grain filler before applying the ICBINL.The body and the neck were the same type of wood and both had a quilted maple veneer on the top of the head and body. I applied the ICBINL in my living room and the only windows were on the east side of the house and the time of day was the afternoon when the sun was on the west of the house. There were blackout curtains over the windows.
Since I didn't have the problem on the neck, I assumed that I had somehow exposed my ICBINL to sunlight in between when I did the neck and when I did the body (a couple days) thus ruining the curing process. I don't know if that is the case, I've yet to buy another bottle to try and fix it.
I miss our sunny days lol. Feels like I've been living in the pacific northwest for the last 6 weeks or so here in Denver.
I built a kit guitar this year in march, and used ICBINL. I'm in FL at sea level. The body woods were mahogany, and maple. It cured fine on those woods. Although, I used it as a sealer because I sprayed it with poly for a high gloss finish. It was quite good for that purpose. The neck was Ziricote, which was problematic with ICBINL. It does not seem to like very oily woods. I even bought a UV light at 385nm because I wasn't sure if the sunlight was inadequate on cloudy days. It was still super tacky, and I was able to wipe all clean with acetone. Even after exposing it to direct UV from a lamp. I decided to try Solarez Grain Filler and Sealer and it worked better on the Ziricote neck. Although the cure times were longer, it did in fact cure. Probably 20 minutes of exposure to natural sunlight, and an additional 10 minutes to the UV lamp. I did 3 coats of that product first then the ICBINL to another 3 times to get enough to level sand and applied 2 more coats of ICBINL and finally buffed and polished. And it looks decent and feels good to the hands when playing.(I don't like the feel of poly on necks. Its too sticky) If I ever reuse ziricote I'll try a different finish method that isn't solarez. I'm positive oily woods are problematic with this product.
Been using this product for grain filling before spraying color and top coats for about a year.
Zero issues curing in Southern California with daylight, although I now use a UV lamp to save time or for times when the sun is out of view for whatever reason.
Have you ever used the ICBINL as a clear coat over colour?
I have applied this to one instrument after watching a few of your video recommending it. I'm in Australia and it was a little hard to get this product down here to start with but I figure we'd have plenty of UV to cure this stuff without issue.
The timber I used for this experimental instrument is called pacific maple I believe. It nothing like the hard tight grain maple everyone is familiar with. It looks a little bit like mahogany but has a very open grain somewhat similar to wenge but has a density closer to maybe Alder. The issue I had was that the finish seemed to soak in to the wood quite a bit and then during the curing phase it wouldn't quite fully cure the stuff deeper in the large pores. It would feel cured to the touch but over a bit of time the uncured finish would seep out of the larger pores. This would leave tiny droplets that would then feel tacky after a little while. I found if I just let it sit for a little while after the first cure then wipe it down and cure again a few times then it was fine. And once the grain was sealed this wouldn't happen of course.
I was aiming for a faux oiled finished and probably added one too many coats for this and I ended up with little shiny spots down in the deeper grains. But all in all I think for the first time it worked pretty nicely. I would love if they had a matte version of this product. It wasn't the easiest thing I've ever worked with but I'd definitely use it again and I'm sure with more experience it would go better.
I had problems with Solarez laying flat, so I ended up having to put on a lot more coats than I originally thought.
Another problem was that it would pull dye, and flat sanding would often have spots that look like a sand-through, but it was the dye that had been pulled into intermediate Solarez layers. Was thinking maybe putting on a Shellac barrier seal-coat would help this problem.
Didn't have curing problems -- I bought a UV flashlight that I used for quick cures. Didn't have too much problems with it in sunlight, but the UV flashlight was safer. I live in Chicago and tried to cure during winter/spring, but just leaving the guitar near a window. That was generally ok, but not super consistent, whereas the flashlight was very consistent.
In New Orleans Louisiana here. Used this product on my last Stratocaster style build. I had this curing issue once. It was around 2pm, cured out in the bright sun for about 2 minutes. Started level sanding and it was slightly tacky when I started level sanding. I ended up just getting it as flat as possible and did not re-expose to the sunlight to help the cure along. Instead, I reapplied and cured for 10 minutes. After that, solid as a rock. One thing to note as well, I only let the Solarez sit on the surface of the wood for about 5 mins the first time to let it level out, the second time I took your recommendation of 30 minutes and that also likely helped at lot.
Side note, the bottle says “no odor”, and that is so far from true 🤣
I just built a neck through guitar and used ICBINL sealer/grain filler and gloss clear coat. I am on the east coast of Florida. More humidity than Colorado for sure. I applied my coats in an air conditioned space and then went outside only for curing. I have used Solarez products for many years on surfboard ding repair, but his was the first time on a guitar. As stated in one of your videos, when right after you cure it, it has an "tacky sort of feel", but when you hit it with sandpaper, it powders up. If I had to guess, the initial feel is what most are noticing.
I noticed two things:
1 - Sometimes the product does not "wet the surface" evenly and tries to pull away in spots. I had to re-brush some areas. Could be a finger print, dust or non-uniform scuff sanding was to blame, but my experience is you have to carefully inspect before initiating a cure.
2 - I had issues with the surface not leveling totally. I clearly was not leaving it long enough before initiating a cure and that cause a lot of extra level sanding. I also hung the guitar while letting it level and the finish did sag in some areas if I left it for a long time. On my later coats, I did the bottom and the the top separately. Left the guitar flat and watched the finish level itself with side light. It was amazing. you could watch it slowly level out and it took almost 30 minutes each coat to reach it. For the sides I ended up just sponging on thin coats and handing to let it level.
Other advice that I found to be true is to make sure to scuff sand the roundovers (without sanding hard) to insure that the finish adheres and does not pull away as it levels.
This is the issue I was having, I talked with solarez and they said it’s because of high surface tension and possibly built up static. It would bead up like water does on smooth surfaces.
I know my surface was well cleaned.
What this means is you can’t apply a second coat without sanding, but it’s so thin you can’t sand without sanding through. If you just have bare wood underneath it’s not a big deal but if you have a stained or painted surface it’s a nightmare.
I would say try the solarez poly gloss, you will need to sand between coats but it’s thicker and won’t level out as nicely. It’s also a polyester based product and not an acrylic like ibinl so it might stick a little better.
Used in Gloucestershire UK (230ft above sea level) and in very hot summer (for the UK anyway) bright sunlight midday no cure after 3 or 4 hours. Applied with brush on maple and ash and neither got further than a very tacky finish. Had to scrape and sand back to remove. I have both this and the grain sealer and both give the same result.
I have used ICBINL filler and top coat for 3.5 years. I use it in my windowless basement shop. I cure with 4x 15W 385nm light bulbs installed in a 2’X2’X4’ plywood enclosure faced with shiny aluminum foil. I build ukuleles. In the enclosure I suspend the ukuleles from a vertically mounted barbecue rotisserie. A timer switch allows me to set the “bake” time. Experiments showed it cured the lacquer in 1.5 minutes but I typically zap for 15-20 minutes.
Technique wise, I use Chris’s hand rubbed finish method. I don’t shoot for high gloss.
I love ICBINL as I don’t put a lot of volatiles into the air. The 2x pint containers purchased in 2019 still have about 20% left. So the amortized cost is acceptable.
5 ukuleles and numerous small boxes have been finished with this product so far.
Some woods don’t appear to like ICBINL as much as others. The surface stays a bit gummy. In those instances I put on a thicker coat of the product and don’t wipe it prior to zapping. Then the exterior cures and I carefully sand it back. But my usual process is “ goop- wipe - zap- sand “ repeat as you march through the grits…
What I'd really love is a super thin form of Solarez, so that I could use it similar to how I use Bob Smith super thin CA glue. The spray-on formulation is still fairly thick. The solids content is so high that I would think there would be a way to make it even thinner.
Regarding brush marks, if you use a foam brush instead of a bristle brush, you won't have much in the way of any brush marks, and it will layer really thin.
You can thin it by heating it.
I would imagine that the time of day is important too Chris, as in the early hours and the later hours, the Sunlight would have more of the UV spectrum filtered out due to it's angle through the atmosphere. High noon would be the ideal time and also angled so the Sunlight hits your finished surfaces as "flatly" as possible.
Always works great and cures instantly for me. New Orleans LA
I've tried the grain filler and top coat on a number of acoustic guitars. Northern Michigan, usually in the spring. Have tried squeegee, brush and spray. Sun cure, UViii system UV lamp or often both. I find it very difficult to get a satisfactory cure even with prolonged UV exposure times up to a half hour or more. It always seems to end up tacky. When it doesn't cure you have a sticky mess to deal with that is hard to sand. I've had to scrape it off and start over more than once. I don't use it anymore.
I've had pretty good success with ICBINL, as well as the grain filler (based on your recommendations). It has worked well for me in most applications on the usual woods with one exception. The one that gave me trouble was orange agate or hormigo. The heartwood is very dark orange and brown and the pulp wood is very light. It covered and cured fine in the pulpwood and the orange portions of the heart wood, but the dark brown areas remained tacky after extensive time in the sun. I'm in North Carolina by the way.
Some other folks are mentioning trouble with oily woods and that was one of my thoughts here too. Perhaps the resin is drawing oil out of the wood, preventing full cure? This was only an issue with really thin coats, such as those that Solarez suggests for grain filling. Once you get a few coats down, everything hardens up no problem. I think it would only have been an issue if I was ONLY using it for grain filling.
Thanks for the video. Hopefully this leads to better understanding for all.
I'm also in Colorado, and I'm currently using ICBINL on my first guitar. I can get a nice hard coat if I cure in direct sunlight around mid day, but it takes more than 2 or 3 minutes. It's been cloudy, so I've been trying to use a mercury lamp (emissions in UV, but not on 385nm) with some success. I can only cure a small area at a time where the light from the lamp is directly aimed. I have to leave it for ~5 minutes before that spot isn't tacky, and powders up when sanding. I haven't seen any results in indirect sunlight, but it would probably cure eventually. The UV index here has been about 4 lately. Late in the day, there seems to be too much attenuation from the atmosphere to get a good cure. I also find that every little surface on the instrument needs to point directly at the sun for a few minutes before it feels hard. I've got 3 coats of grain filler and 3 coats of lacquer substitute on the body now. I'm thinking I'll do one more.
Anyone sanding the finish, but not polishing? I'm thinking about sanding to P1000 or P2000 over bare Ash and calling it good. I'm hoping it's matte, but not white looking. My test piece looked a little hazy.
Used this and the grain filler may 2023 Wales, beautiful sunshine, humidity 30-60%. Used on walnut guitar bridge. Filled grain, then started coats of topcoat sanding between each coat, going up in grit sizes from 240g - 3000g (10 coats total) all applied with foam brush. Then level sanded starting 600g going up grits to 3000g. Then polishing compounds. Only able to achieve satin sheen which I have also achieved using just the filler in this same way. It did seem to gym the sandpaper a little as I increased coats and used finer sandpaper as a surface key but was ok. One wipe with my french polish rubber after this process brought out low gloss that would have gone higher with more french polish. All this done in 1 sunny day.
*gum
hi, just FYI: photopolymer (UV-) resins for 3d printing also dont fully cure when they are in contact with oxygen (= they can remain tacky). this can be solved by postcuring them submerged under water. i dont know if this is helpful to any of you, since you probably dont intend to put your guitar under water, but maybe this can point your troubleshooting in the right direction!
I have used the solarez lacquer, clear polyester and the epoxy. The slarez lacquer and solarez polyester work great, but the light activated solarez epoxy does not clure.
Used it twice with more success the second time. I used a UV light. It cured hard after about 3 minutes in the light. Located in Portland OR. The first time I used it, I sanded through on the edges. I'm guessing I didn't apply enough coats. I could never get it to polish to a clear gloss however. Probably my technique and lack of patience more than anything.
i purchased a UV lamp of the right wave length for like 60$ and it works perfect for me. Where i live, i can't really rely on the sun and it takes forever to cure if it's a little cloudy. I recommend the lamp if you're in my situation
Would you happen to have a link to the lamp you purchased or maybe a brand name and model?
I've had trouble with the brush-on.
I've honestly had terrible results with it - I never get a full cure, it's always tacky, and I've had soft pockets as well. I just assumed I got a bad batch. Live in lower michigan, tried in direct sun in the summer around noon, and with a high powered UV flashlight, with the same results. I've also experienced it flaking off the surface, or getting bad air pockets beneath it causing clouding.
Would you recommend the Solarez polyester product for electric guitars?
the product had a foul smell the finish seemed to be very nice but once sanded it was easy to notice 3 different shades bad experience for me
Solarez not curing can also be related to oily wood, like cocobolo or rosewood. I never used it myself, but in my lutherie school (Quebec), they used the ICBINL pore filler, and experimented bad results with indian rosewood.
I found that wiping the rosewood with some acetone first made the ICBINL cure without issue.
@@HighlineGuitars Yes, they tried this and it was better, but some wood samples needed quite a lot of acetone. In a school that try to use as few toxic chemical as possible, it is not the best. Still a fantastic product that allow to work fast (at school we have a closed space with multiple UV sources of proper wavelength, so exposure is not likely to be the issue).
I had issues with it curing over Indian Rosewood. Suspect it would do this with all oily woods. I used a UV heat bulb. Cured on Spruce, Mahogany and Machiche no problems. I had terrible witness lines with this product and was a massive pain to buff. I would not recommend for Acoustic guitars. It goes on far too thick.
It doesn't cure well on dark woods. So I spoke to the maker of Solarez and he admitted this can be an issue. He says it oxidises too quickly on dark woods. I stopped using it.
I found it cures fine if you seal the wood first with their vinyl ester grain sealer.
I’ve just bought some of this off Amazon uk, it cost £40 ($70). Tried it on a headstock and everything went ok.
My question is can you make it blend ok together?
So if I painted and cured the top and side of the body first then did the back would I be able to sand out and polish out where the two points join around the sides?
Hope I’ve explained that properly 😂
Only if you have a buffing machine. Otherwise you'll have witness lines.
I have brushed on ICBINL on several builds. I run into two problems consistently and would love to get some feedback from the rest of your viewers. The biggest problem i run into is the extensive orange peel. In some cases it is so severe it requires extensive sanding. The other problem is I can never seem to get it to a high gloss mirror like finish. I can get it in some spots on the instrument, but never on the entire instrument. As a result I've really abandoned the process in favor of Crystalac.
I am in Louisville, KY area and use artificial UV light. I have never had a problem with curing.
Any recommendations on how to overcome thee issues would be greatly appreciated.
I know that Solarez has been testing a new formula that is supposed to lay out better. I don't know if or when it will be available.
Can I apply poly or lacquer over ICBINL. Would it be better to apply shellac in between? I'm not using it on a musical instrument.
That’s a question for the manufacturer. I would never do that.
I did use Solarez (thanks to your recommendation btw) and had some tackiness. I'm located in the northeast US. I used it in the mid-summer.
Fwiw, it was "tacky" but not "mushy" which makes it salvageable. Tackiness reminded me exactly of the sticky top layer you get sometimes when you mix two part epoxy and either your ratio is off or the resin/hardener separate and you have a layer with no catalyst.
My two theories on the Solarez are 1.) the formula may have multiple parts to it (I've never read up on it) and failure to mix could cause separation 2.) Surface contamination from bad prep leaves a layer uncured (ex: grease from hands or oils from the wood itself).
Can you use this on top of Rust-Oleum, Krylon , or Nitrocellulose colour?
That's a question for Solarez.
Why does my Solarez have a separate bottle of stuff and I’m supposed to put three to six drops of it per ounce? I don’t hear anyone talking about this?
Which Solarez product are you using?
Northern California. Am half way thru a project, a few coats of grain filler sanded to 400, and 3 thin coats of brush on, sanded to 600. Suspect I will need 4-6 more coats. Seems to cure and sand well each time, however it’s got a squeaky/tacky feel before I sand. After sanding it feels almost like a hard rubber. I’m a little anxious about how hard a shell it’ll end up being, and whether that squeaky feel is going to come back when I eventually buff it to a mirror. I welcome any thoughts/advice!
Squeaky is the key word when describing how it feels after curing. I think a lot of people assume it hasn't fully cured because it feels squeaky and therefore rubbery. Since it powders up when sanded, it's safe to say it has fully cured. However, no one wants a squeaky, rubbery feel to their finish.
@@HighlineGuitars yes since it’s sanding fine I assume it’s cured as it should be! In your experience, does that same squeaky feeling come back when you buff it?
@@ehowe227 I don’t remember. It’s been years since I buffed out Solarez ICBINL.
I unfortunately have not had good success with this product. I purchased the sprayable formula a couple of years ago and made the mistake of trying to use it as a clear coat over Wicked Colors Pearl Red by Createx. It did not good work out at all. It did not cure well at all and the finish was very bumpy and had a lot of trouble trying to level sand the finish. It ruined my whole project and had to strip everything down and the guitar body has sat on the shelf ever since. I am getting ready to redo the project and this time I am just going to use a 2k clear. The Createx colors especially the Wicked Colors line really pop with a 2k clear
The fact that you would go straight to your project without testing demonstrates an ignorance on how to properly apply any type of finish. ALWAYS TEST!!! Always. Testing helps you to learn the intricacies of applying modern, high tech finishes.
@HighlineGuitars oh I agree. I screwed up royally. I learned my lesson after that. Very stupid on my part. I did have good luck with it going over sealed alder but to automatically think it would turn out fine going over a waterbased basecoat without testing was a real rookie mistake on my part. I have had good luck using it as a grain filler.
I find their website bordering on dishonest, ... they show a quart of their product with a price of about 40 dollars but that is the price for one pint!! Thats about 80 dollars for the quart that is prominently displayed .
That would be the EU website. The U.S. sites states “As low as.”
@@HighlineGuitars I will of coarse go back and check the source but I think I simply "clicked" on the link your website provided
@@radiusnorth1675 I don’t have a link on any of my websites.
When i apply it thin, it never cures. No matter if in the sunlight or with artificial uv light. It isn't a real problem now, because i only use it as a grainfiller and stopped using it as clearcoat for that reason.
Where are you located Mike?
I had the same problem and I'm now pretty sure I received a defective brush on formula. I hadn't thought to use it up as a grain filler because I had some actual Solarez grain filler formula. I think I'll give that a go. Thanks!
@@andysaucedo3226 South of austria
I build classical guitars for the most part and finish with French polish of shellac. I have watched and read with interest. You never know what may apply or be a new step. What is the main reason for using this product? Most of the comments point to speed of application and speed of cure. Am I reading this correctly? The main problem seems to be the thoroughness of the cure given the expected cure time and conditions. There is little comment here on humidity. Is everyone living in humidity-controlled quarters and working in controlled workshops? I know the writers in the southeast understand real humidity. Is humidity not a factor when one sticks an instrument outdoors in direct sunlight on the east coast of Florida? What about UV boxes? They are not that expensive to build. Many builders who use natural finishes for acoustic guitars and bowed instruments use UV boxes for curing finishes. Would this be too elaborate, a violation of the proper use of the product, or perhaps a violation of one's sacred oath in regard to building solid body guitars? Cheers!
As far as I know, humidity doesn't seem to affect the cure. Here is a link that may answer your other questions: drive.google.com/file/d/1HIzWpPNz1I8XPzDWwyJGAr5TAz2r6IFu/view
I live in Green Bay, Wisconsin and used both the ICBINL grain filler and top coat. I applied and cured the product in winter. Solarez customer support told me that the curing process was not affected by the ambient temperature.
The first problem I encountered was what I called “crocodile skin,” which was incredibly difficult to sand out. Solarez suggested that instead of blasting it with sunlight, I would be better served by short bursts of UV light (5 seconds), with 1 minute pauses in between 3 short bursts. It helped to a degree, but the “cured” finish was still tacky; not bone dry/squeaky.
I was told by Solarez that I could still sand it, but that quickly clogged my abrasives. Since I was using Super Assilex, which is fairly expensive, that was not a good thing.
The Solo guitar kit I was building had flame maple veneer on the top with a mahogany body. The end result was very nice, but there were some real challenges and a lot of elbow grease that went into it. I’m going to try Solarez on my next kit. It’ll be interesting to see if Wisconsin summer sunlight is better than Wisconsin winter sunlight.
Your mention of "crocodile skin" rings true with me. I've had the same experience. Machine buffing with big (14") wheels and Menzerna compounds helped me. Solarez gave me the same advise with their polyester resin and it helped, but I haven't tried that approach with ICBINL.
@@HighlineGuitars I don’t have a buffing wheel so you can imagine how hard it was to remove by hand.
I just purchased my first jug of ICBINL and I’m in Milwaukee after reading these comments I’m a bit nervous about using it
@@jukejointjack Here’s what I’ve found. 1) Make sure you always apply the ICBINL in a place with zero sunlight. Originally, before I moved to my basement, I applied it in my garage where there was a small amount of sunlight that would creep in from a high window. 2) After you’ve applied it, give the Solarez plenty of time for it to flow out and flatten (maybe 20 minutes or more). 3) Make sure you level sand the surface and clean it thoroughly before applying more ICBINL. Once you have enough coats to suit your preference, follow Chris dry sanding and polishing process.
I’ve got some of that aqua coat on the way too , first
I’m gonna give that a try then sand and paint then hit it with the ICBINL
This is all new to me so any insight is super helpful and appreciated.