Crystalac Brite Tone Waterbased Clear Coat Review
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- Äas pĆidĂĄn 29. 04. 2018
- Crystalac Brite Tone Waterbased Clear Coat Review. In this video I'm doing a review of the Crystalac Brite Tone Waterbased Top Coat. This is my first attempt at using a waterbased clear coat. See what you think about this product. Any questions please leave them below. Hope you enjoy!!
Crystalac Brite Tone Finish
amzn.to/2WgsmMq
-Red Label Abrasive Pads-I used 400, 800, 1200, 2000
Link for 800grit only. amzn.to/2MmMKa8
đšDISCLAIMER: This video and description contain affiliate links with Amazon Associates Program. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. When you click on a link I receive a small commission. This helps support the channel and allows me to continue to make videos like this. Thank you for the support! - Jak na to + styl
Thatâs the money shot! Beautiful!
WOW! We appreciate the love. Amazing job
Great results! No steel wool between coats is a huge plus.
Thanks Chase... I'm about to do my first build and the Crystalac line seems to be the pro's choice. Thanks for this great vid!
No problem buddy! Let me know if you need anything. Welcome to the channel!
I tried this for the first time using a
Preval. It didnât work out too well and I thought Iâd have to sand back everything. Well within 45 minutes this product self leveled all my mistakes out. Most forgiving product Iâve used. Amazing finish.
Geezer Gamer awesome man. Glad you like it. I love how it does level out on its own. Itâs also a very thin finish unlike 2k clears. Nice for instruments. Thanks for the comment bud.
It is very cloudy compared nitrocellulose lacquer. I have done trials and a guitar with it, also tried Varathane Crystal Gloss. I actually had to peel this crap off the first time because of a slight sag. Managed to get it done the second time by waiting 2 weeks before final sanding and buffing. Very aggravating! Trying to get away from the hazardous finishes but the water based polys fall way, way short. Good luck with your builds!
MegaGuitarpicker thanks for the comment bud. Yes the water based clears are a lot harder to get perfect. The only time I had problems with it being cloudy was if I was spraying in a high humidity environment or I put my coats on too thick and didnât leave time to dry before adding another coat. Itâs defiantly a lot more finicky than nitro or 2k. Youâre right though I donât think there will ever be a water based clear that is as clear as nitro or 2k. But like you I donât like the hazards that come with it. Thanks for the comment bud.
It's not the finish's fault if you don't wait long enough for it to cure. I've found that waiting a few more days after what is recommended provided an excellent finish, easily on par with the finicky nitro.
I just made my first purchase from them. The only issue I had was most of the items leaked during shipping. Thank goodness it's water-based! Other than 45 minutes cleaning up, it's great stuff.
Joe Greer I hear ya bud. I hate that happened. Call them and tell them what happened. I know David will fix it for you. Thanks for the comment.
@@ChasesWKshop It's no biggie, just an FYI to others so they aren't surprised. I figure that's why they wrapped them up a good bit. I think it would be hard to prevent, actually. It's awesome stuff though and I really dig the family's story. I love supporting the little guy, especially when they have a superior product! I saw it on Highline's channel and gave it a shot. Glad I did. I can't do those fumes anymore! By the way... love your work! Take care, Joe.
Joe Greer Iâm the same way about using water based products. I found them the same way you did through highline guitars. Love that channel. Thanks for the like man!
@@ChasesWKshop I'm subscribed too now. I know the need for the 1000 subs!!!! Take care!
Thanks bud and welcome to the channel!!
Hi Chase. I tried brushing on the brite tone. I dont recommend due to being hard to level sand.. Great video
monty gore thanks for the info bud. I havenât used it with a brush unless to touch up a few spots. Thanks!
I tried brushing it on and level sanding which took at least 70 coats to level this stuff. Used a half pint to accomplish. Finally got it done and looks good but, I agree, spray it on. This next try will be my 4th try with this and my trials are going very nice. Quirky stuff to work with!
How do you do your headstock logos? That looks great!
Thanks bud. I get them from rothco and frost. Check out their website.
Hey Chase: Thanks for another great video. I am very interested in trying Brite Tone Topcoat Clear Gloss High Solids product for guitar refinishing. I generally do repairs, upgrades and some restoration. Can you tell me if this clear coat can be sprayed directly over existing factory finishes (like poly, lacquer, etc.) and still bond properly? I am concerned about having proper adhesion if this product were to over lap an existing factory finish. I would certainly prep first by scuff sanding and cleaning. I don't always need or desire to spray a clear coat on the entire guitar but there are times when finishes may overlap a bit (or need to be 'feathered' into one another) so I need to know it this product will play nicely with original finishes. Thank you for any additional insight that you can offer! Your a good dude and you make good videos so thanks for sharing!
Dan Jackson thanks bud. Glad you like the videos. I would say yes it would be fine to spray over existing finishes as long as you do the proper prep work. Iâd also contact David at Crystalac and ask him about it. Heâs very helpful and can lead you in the right direction. Tell him I sent ya. Let me know how it goes bud. Welcome to the channel!
@@ChasesWKshop : Hey Chase, thank you for your friendly reply. I signed onto the Crystalac Facebook page to get more info. Thanks! One more quick question if you don't mind: do you ever tint your Crystalac Clear? I am trying to match this Les Paul with a very dark reddish mahogany finish and it appears that the color tone is part of the clear since I can still see the mahogany grain showing through it. So, it would seem that I'll have to tint the Crystalac clear in order to get this look and wondered if you had ever tried this.
Youâre welcome bud. No I havenât tried to do that but I n on one you can. David at Crystalac can tell you exactly what you need for sure.
Awesome video Chase. Im getting ready to refinish one of my basses and I'm planning on using Crystalac. I don't have a spray gun and I was wondering what kind of spray gun you use? Thank you, Jack.
Thanks bud. I used the PowRyte HVLP gun. Itâs cheap but works great. Hereâs a link to it. Not sure if the link will work but bought it on amazon.
PowRyte Mini HVLP Gravity Feed Air Spray Gun with Regulator www.amazon.com/dp/B01MYANHL6/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_7zRtBbWSQJP59
Let me know if you have any more questions about it. Also donât hesitate to reach out to the Crystalac company theyâre great and will help you any way they can.
Chase'sWKshop thank you Chase, I really appreciate it.
Thanks again for that link to the spray gun, that thing works great.
Jack Lambert hey bud did you try the Crystalac finish on your basses? Like to know how it turned out. Take care man.
Great video Chase. Did you sand and buff the very next day? I would say that is amazing.
Thanks for the comment. Yes I sanded 11 hours after the last coat. It worked extremely well. If youâre looking to get into waterbased clears give it a try. What do you normally use for your clear coat?
I have only used water based lacquers and have not been completely happy with any of them to be honest. I build acoustics and have used Crystalac Grain Filler so after seeing your video I am tempted to give Brite Tone a try on a build that I'm just starting. Thanks again Chase.
Youâre welcome bud. Being itâs the first time Iâve used a waterbased clear I have nothing to compare it to other than a 2k clear. But Iâm pretty impressed with the end results. Hope it works for you bud. Let me know if you need anything.
I'm wondering if it's flexible enough for an acoustic so it doesn't somehow dampen the tone. That is my only concern about it, but it sure looks great.
Gotcha. I knows itâs hard to tell what it will do without attempting it first. Itâs defiantly a lot thinner than what Iâm used to using. Iâd send them a message or call them. They can help you decide. Their very helpful and nice.
Have you tried spraying the full neck with the clear yet? With the lacquer, I can just peel it off of the frets. I'm wondering if I can do the same with the Crystalac.
Joe Greer I havenât but Iâd like to try it though. I would think it would work just the same. Iâll try it and see.
Hey chase, was the neck dyed/tinted with any other colors before you sprayed on the crystalac? Because that finish is beautiful and I'd love to know whether I need anything else to get a similar finish
Pitamar1 thanks for the question bud. There is about 6 coats of tru oil under the clear. The decal is between the tru oil and clear. Didnât know if it would work when I was doing it but I havenât had any issues with it.
@@ChasesWKshop how long do you wait for the Tru oil to cure before applying the crystalac? And did the Tru oil actually darken the color of the maple or simply bring out the grain patterns and give it a nice shine?
Pitamar1 is day I would wait at least 48 to 72 hrs after last coat. I had waited a few months just because of not know what I was going to do exactly. Iâd go by what the tru oil finish recommends. The tru oil gives it a golden shade. The more you put on the darker it can get. There is a good schedule to go by when applying the tru oil. I use steel wool between coats to level. Tru oil is an awesome finish but takes a while to build up a deep coat though. Let me know if you have anymore questions. Btw there are a lot of good videos on applying tru oil finish here on CZcams.
Chase Thank for the video! Very helpful! What compound did you polish with? Do you think you could use an orbital sander with the compounds and wool buffing pads vs a buffing wheel? I want a high gloss surface on a 2D surface. Thanks!
Hey bud thanks for the comment. You can get a pretty good gloss finish with buffer pads but the buffing wheel is the ticket for high gloss shine. I donât think you would have good results with an orbital sander. You would have better luck with the chuckable pads and a drill. I use menzerna compound. I use a fine and ultra fine. I canât remember the exact number but I can get it for you. If you decide on the pads and drill get some liquid compounds. Just like what youâd use to buff a car with. Hope this helps bud. Talk soon.
@@ChasesWKshop Chase, thanks for the quick response. Good to know on the buffing wheel. I'll have to look further into that route. One other quick question. About how much time did you have between coats? Also, how long after your last coat did you let it sit and cure before you began the sanding / buffing process? Thanks!
@@steveglass7009 I think I did quick coats and maybe level sanded and buffed the next day. I donât think thatâs what it recommends. I wanted to put it to the extreme to see how it turned out. I did another headstock not long ago and I put on a coat about every 2 hrs. I sand led and buffed after about 2 days. I did 6 coats. Iâll send you some pics if you want to send me your email address. Itâll be different at different temps but brite tone is pretty easy to see if itâs dry for another coat. Iâd play around with it. You can test it out between coats. I wouldnât do anymore than 6 coats a day. To get a deep clear you need many coats. Highline guitars has a lot of videos on the product too. Iâd check him out. I think he recommends letting it set a day per coat before wet sanding and buffing. Could be off on that but that sounds right. You can also contact David at Crystalac and tell him I sent you. He can give you all the ins and outs and might even send over a sample for you to play around with. Hope this helps bud and let me know if you need anything or have any questions. Talk soon.
@@ChasesWKshopSuper helpful! Thanks. I asked crystlac and they said the longer it sits to cure is better before sanding and buffing, but the fact that you did that in two days is pretty phenomenal. Thanks for all the info. If I end up using an orbital sander I'll let you know what I discover with the gloss finish.
Chase, actually, if you would be willing to let me know the grit numbers of the Menzerna compounds that would be great! Thanks.
Do you do a complete dismantle and clean your spraygun between each layer? Would it be enough to just shoot a good amount of warm water into a bottle? Have never sprayed a waterbased topcoat. Do you still use this product 3 years later?
Hey bud, normally I leave the product in the gun while Iâm spraying for the day. I usually just clean the tip of the nozzle after each coat. Then when the days done I empty the gun and run hot water through it. Itâs funny you ask but Im using the product today to coat a guitar headstock with a logo lol. There is a learning curve with this compared to 2k clears but once you get used to it itâs great. Contact Crystalac and talk to David. He will probably send you some samples to try out if youâd like. Hope this helps bud.
@@ChasesWKshop Thank you! I already got the product and the sanding sealer but havnât tried it yet. Too cold in the shed đ„¶
@@Thelinski gotcha bud. I run into the same issue here. I have to run a heater for about an hour to get the shop where I can spray. Itâs a really forgiving product. Iâd practice on some test pieces until you get the hang of it. Iâm using an LVLP gun now instead of an HVLP and itâs been working very nicely. Doesnât have near as much overspray and my small compressor carries it perfectly. If you have anymore questions let me know. You can also email me at Weatherfordwoodcrafts@gmail.com. Hope all is well your way.
Wow looks like you're able to lay down a pretty wet coat with this stuff. Did you ever have any issues with runs spraying that wet? I'm thinking especially on a guitar body that might not be laying flat. thanks great vid!
Honestly no I didnât have any problems with runs. The only issue I had on the guitar I did was that the clear coat didnât adhere to the acrylic paint I used for my burst. I should have roughed the paint up with some fine grit sandpaper. This was my first experience using a water based clear and I was highly impressed. When you apply the coats they look real wet and thick at first but once it dries it flattens out and is a thinner layer thatâs flat. Iâd recommend using their sanding sealer or wood grain filler too. The guitar headstocks grain showed through a little bit. Still look great though.
I did a video on applying Crystalac to a guitar body if you havenât seen it on my channel. I kinda go over my mistakes. Let me know if you have anymore questions.
Chase'sWKshop thanks!
Josh Forest, youâre welcome bud. Also I would recommend doing a tack coat first to prevent runs just like with other oil based clears.
Curious, what type of acrylic paint were you using under it that didnt work? Iâm trying to come up with a completely water based finishing process and was looking into water based acrylic airbrush type paint for color coats
How do you make your gold decals with black outlines?
Angel Rodriguez I use Rothko and Frost company. I believe they are out of the UK. Great Company.
I just sprayed my first coat of this. It looks very orange peel. It's not at all smooth.
Up until now I've been using General Finishes top coat, but I thought I'd try crystalac because of all the recommendations.
Is it normal for it to not go on smooth? To look like orange peel? Will it flatten out?
74 degrees 45 percent humidity. Gravity fed spray gun.
Itâs hard to say, there are a few things that could cause this. Give it time to dry , it should flatten out some. Iâm assuming you raised the grain before coating but sometimes that can be an issue too. Also contact David at Crystalac and see if he can walk you through any issues your having. May need some retarder for the mix. Let me know how it turns out.
@@ChasesWKshop It did flatten down and this morning when I went to do coat four parts of it were nice and glossy, while other parts weren't. So I laid 4 down heavier than I normally would, thinking that's how I was supposed to spray this.
But, unfortunately coat 4 sagged in a few spots I found, when I went to spray #5. I'll probably still spray #6 tonight then let it cure for a week (maybe longer because of the few sag spots) and see how those sags respond to level sanding (they're on the back) If it goes well, great. If not, I'll take it down to bare wood and try a third time. (last finish I tried did NOT work out well, and had to be sanded off. So I ordered the crystalac to see how it works). BTW, what's a good sanding sealer? The minwax stuff I've been using does NOT live up to its promises.
vanstry I hear you bud. It does level out pretty good. The one thing I know about it is that it is a very thin coat once it dries. I need to do some more videos on using this product so I apologize for that. I will say Iâve had pretty good success with it but with any clears there is always that one bad experience. I believe Crystalac sells a sanding sealer. May want to talk to David and see what he recommends. Hope I helped any man. Let me know the final result.
@@ChasesWKshop okay. Let it sit 6 days to cure. Level sanding started off well, but then I pretty much burned through every single edge on the front and the back. No idea why. I use a 5 inch round soft pad with 800 paper on the front of it and just level sand. For some reason the edges just before the corner sanded thru instantly. I used 6 coats.
So now I have to sand it all back to bare wood and start over from scratch. I was using 6 coats. I don't think I'm going to be using crytalac anymore, because apparently it takes some special skill i lack. This was a standard warmoth guitar body, nothing fancy.
vanstry Iâm sorry to hear that bud. Sometimes it just might not be the product thatâs good for you. Thatâs not a bad thing and it doesnât mean youâre not skilled. When I did my guitar with it I dry sanded it for that reason and I did burn through a few spots. I went from 2k clears to this stuff and it was a huge learning curve. One that I still learn on today.
Can I pour this on an acrylic canvas painting?đ
I donât know if I would pour it or not. Iâd defiantly try it on a test piece before I put it on my main project. I think it may bleed the colors into the clear since itâs a water based product on top of Waterbased acrylic. You never know though.
Does this work OK when brushed on?
Itâs made to be brushed or sprayed. I wouldnât say Iâve had huge experience brushing it on but I think it would work better than most water based clears. What are you going to be applying it to?
Next time you use it,start with a extremely light coat,like to where you can barely see it,come back in 30 mins and do another light coat,I've found that building up your coats very light will end with a finish that almost looks like Epoxy!!I love Crystalac products,try there sanding sealer,I don't ever see me using anything else!!
joe Hale thanks bud will do.
Chase'sWKshop the more I use there stuff the more I love it!!!there sanding sealer and wood grain filler is something I use on everything now and use those 2 makes it to where u don't have to use as much clear coat,which comes in handy on the bright tone because of its coast,but worth every penny
I got some of their sanding sealer, wood filler and their new color system. Iâll be doing some videos on them soon. Thanks for the advice bud. The more I use this stuff the more I love it!
The correct spelling of the word is "their"
@@ChasesWKshop I've been a Painter, Finisher and Restorer since 1972 and I've been doing this Professionally since 1980. Try Oslong Sandpaper. It's the best on the market. I has a special Latex Backing Paper and it lasts nearly Forever. It comes in 3000 Grit. I get mine from John at Marine Now. John also has an eBay store. Try the assortment pack consisting of 2 full size 9"Ă 11" sheets with Grits from 80 Grit up to 2000 Grit. John at Marine Now also has Rolls of PSA (Self Stick) Oslong Sandpaper. For Rapid Shaping (Wood & Finish Removal) use 3M 80 Grit Resinite Floor Paper. I comes in 60, 80, 100 & 150 Grits. For â Hand Buffing use 3m Tri-M-ite Wet Dry Polishing Paper from Rio Grande Jewelry Supply because you get 2 Sheets (9"Ă 11") of 6 Different Colour Coded Grits (12 Sheets Total) for the same price everybody else charges for 1 Sheet 6 Sheets Total) of the 6 Colour Coded Grits. Also try Solarez I can't believe it's not Lacquer. It's 100% solids and requires no grain filler. It cures in 2 or 3 minutes when exposed to UV light or direct sunlight. An Amazing Product.
God Bless
Jimmy in NC....
(919)-818-3279
thepainter.198094@gmail.com
Have you had luck brushing this product on over an acrylic paint?
Susan Kolesar hey thanks for the question. Iâve sprayed this product over an acrylic paint but I have not brushed it over one. Thereâs another video of me spraying a guitar. The guitar has acrylic airbrush paint on it. Iâm pretty sure it would work. For more info contact Crystalac company and talk to David. Heâs extremely helpful and he might even send you a sample to try out. Tell him I sent you. Hope this helps.
@@ChasesWKshop Thanks!
Susan Kolesar youâre welcome. Let me know if you have anymore questions about it.
Where do I find this crystalac brute tone
Linda Easter
thecrystalacstore.com/
I would really like to find some useful reviews - but no I get some guy who reads the package and has had all of, less than a day of experience with the product. - so I guess you can't tell me how the product rubs out since that would take days, how it holds up over time, any checking or crazing? sheeze
Sounds like your best option is to either.
1. Buy the product and try it out for yourself. đ
2. Spend hours on the internet leaving comments looking for answers you could easily find out on your own by trying the product. đ€·đ»ââïž
-Also, more than likely, you can get a free sample from the company and Iâm sure theyâd be glad to answer any questions you have.
Just sayingđ€Šđ»