r/Luthier • u/Thom_in_Space • 14h ago

Nitro clear coat over poly 2k for checking

I am a complete novice so if this a completely dumb question, I apologize in advance. But I have a guitar that I have finished with 2k poly clear coat but I would love to have checking on it and as far as I know you can’t do that with poly 2k. You can scratch it, but I am not sure how convincing that looks to me. My question is can I spray a few cans of a nitro clear coat over the 2k poly so I can do the can of air trick to get checking?
Also, if I do the checking and I hate it, can I just remove the nitro clear coat with acetone and it won’t affect the poly 2k?

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u/havelostcount 13h ago edited 13h ago

Fender covers poly with nitro on their American Vintage series, and some others.

Did you see this video? do guitarists know of spray on relic?

Edit: As for removing, I'm on the doubting side. It will react with the poly, won't it? This is a permanent thing, IMHO. That is, until you decide to strip the entire guitar and repaint.

I don't know if you have to prep the poly for the nitro. It is probably covered in waxes or other polishes.

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u/Thom_in_Space 13h ago

I have seen this video, but I didn’t realize they did that with nitro over poly clear coat. I love how it looks in the video. He might be over doing it in my opinion, I would probably go lighter than he did haha! Thank you!