Oxford Super-Clear Polyurethane 9000 Series - created 03-24-2008

Nephin, John - 03/24/2008.20:18:11

Anyone using the Oxford Super-Clear Polyurethane 9000 Seriesfor finishing acoustics?

If so does it spray, sand and buff well?

IIRC that's the Target USL which is also re-branded as the Stew Mac stuff. I'm finishing an acoustic bandura right now and having some issues with it - I'm also a novice at spraying though and have never sprayed nitro other than out of an aerosol can so can't really compare.

USL isn't SC 9000. Completely different finishes.

Sorry, my bad. Looks like SC is polyurethane as opposed to USL which is spray lacquer.

Since no one else with more experiance is piping in I throw out the very little experiance I have with it.

I used it once - on a bolt on electric neck. As far as spraying and sanding it was on par with the various other water based finishes I've tried. Buffing was fine as long as you don't wait too long - it can get pretty hard - which is one of it's advantage over USL. It can use a little amber tint.

Keep in mind, these observations are only relative to other waterbased finishes, I've no experiance with spraying, sanding, or buffing nitr.

Target has (or at least used to) have a pretty good forum with quite a bit of user input on their various products.

I have been reading the forum and it seems alot of people use it for electrics. I read somewhere as well if a finish is too hard it would cause to much of a dampining effect on acoustics, does that sound correct?

I did a bit more reading in the mimf fourm and it seems polyurethane is also hard to repair so maybe it is not the finish I am looking for.

I don't think that "hard" is as much an issue as "thin".

I have sprayed a lot of SC 9000 in my business(I own a cabinet shop). I have also sprayed a lot of the USL and sealers that come from target. The SC 9000 is a polyester urethane and is indeed a harder finish than lacquer. Hard is a good thing if you want to buff it out. Each layer does not burn into the previous one so you will get witness lines if you are not careful during buffing. That would also make it harder to repair. I do not normally buff it out but have for a few of my experiments. I spray it using a HVLP rig. It is clear. My experience is that SC 9000 like a water bornes don't "flow out" as well as solvent based finished. It looks ok for the cabinetry that I make but it is not as smooth off the gun. They dry very fast. I thin them a lot with water to slow down the drying to give the film more time to level out.

I think that the USL would be a better choice for an instrument. It has a amber cast. Each layer does burn in into the previous layer. If you let it cure for a week or so it will buff out well.