So, my day job has been beyond demanding for the last half year, and that has kept me away from this project of experimenting with Clean Armor. I finally got a break over the Memorial Day weekend, and spent some of it playing around with this finish. I have a lot more playing around to do, but I thought I would share some initial impressions, and a few photos.
I had ordered four products: The 810 sealer; the 800 grain filler; the 820 top coat; and a handheld Cuvo brand curing lamp. The 800 series is their instrument finish. Their 700 series is the general purpose line.
I sanded a small walnut board with 80, 120, 180, and 220 grit Stikit papers, then water popped the grain and sanded at 220 again to knock off the raised grain. I applied the sealer first. Note that I am not following any instructions from Clean Armor or Avant, the dealer that focuses on selling the instrument finish. I have reached out to get some more instructions from them, and that might change how I use the products. Anyhoo, the sealer is like a thin honey. It wipes on fine with a lint free cloth, and it cures great. I wound up with a well sealed, open grain surface, ready for a pore filler. I sanded a bit with 320 just to even things out, and it produced a nice white sanding dust.
The pore filler is thicker; more like a thick honey. I spread it with a credit card. A little goes a long way, and I overestimated how much it would take, so I had to wipe a fair amount off. This product also cured great, and produced a white sanding dust. I applied two coats, but on a guitar, I might do three. I like a perfectly flat surface after pore filling. This was almost perfect after two rounds.
The top coat is the same consistency as the sealer: thin honey. It wipes on very well. Early on, I faced the one issue that the company warns you about. You have to put enough product on in order for the product to cure properly. If you put it on too thin, it won't cure right. I had that happen once with the top coat. I learned my lesson and put it down a bit thicker after that (about 1 mil), and the problem was solved.
After two coats of the top coat, I leveled and sanded up through the grits with Assilex papers. It all went well, but when I tried buffing, I burned through here and there. I think I need to put down more coats in order to get enough thickness to stand up to level sanding and buffing.
A few overall impressions:
This stuff is very easy to deal with, but like any new thing, you have to learn its quirks. You have to put on enough product in order for it to cure. This was only an issue for me with the top coat, but it was an issue one time. You have to hold the curing lamp at least a foot away from the surface being cured, and cure it for two minutes. The rest is pretty normal.
I wound up liking a microfiber cloth for applying the more liquid components (sealer and top coat). A credit card was better for the pore filler. I didn't like using a squeegee on the pore filler. That will take some adjustment (I like using a squeegee with other products). There is practically no smell, and there are no solvents. So, it is a pretty chill experience to finish with this stuff. Wipe it on, get it looking the way you want, then hit it with the light. Easy peasy. If you follow the rules (put enough on, cure for the full 2 minutes), you wind up with a very nice sandable finish.
I look forward to experimenting more and showing some fully sanded and buffed photos in a few weeks, but for the meantime, here are some photos after the second top coat was cured, but before any level sanding happened. Again, this was with a single sealer coat, two applications of pore filler, and two applications of the top coat:
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Clean Armor 1.jpg
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Clean Armor 2.jpg
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