Shipping A Newly Lacquered Item

[Julie Moriarty]

I'm building a guitar for a friend who lives about 1000 miles away. I'm finishing the guitar with nitrocellulose lacquer. This will be the 4th guitar for me but the first I'll be shipping and I'm concerned about the finish getting beat up by the shipping gorillas. By the time I send it will have cured about a month. I've read lacquer can take as mush as a year to fully cure.

My thoughts are to take a heavy paper and lay it over the body and wrap it around the neck, and then wrap everything with bubble wrap before it goes into the box. Then I'll fill the box with popcorn or some other filler. But I just keep imagining the box getting tossed around and the cushioning I used to protect it from getting seriously damaged rubbing against the finish and ruining it.

While I was setting up one of my earlier built guitars, I had it sitting on a foam pad specifically designed for working on guitars. When I was done, I flipped it over and saw all kinds of scratches from the foam. The lacquer on that guitar had cured for close to a month.

Is there any sure-fire way to pack a newly lacquered item without risking scratching the lacquer?

[Raymond Fries]

Maybe you could build a carrier in the box out of cardboard so it could not shift. Like a slot for the neck and wider slots for the body. Make it in top and bottom pieces.

Good Luck...

[Scott Holmes]

Which brand of lacquer are you using? What type - Pre-cat, Post-cat or just regular NC lacquer?

[William Adams]

Given how abrasive paper is, I wouldn't use it --- my choice would be to wrap the guitar in several layers of wax paper, then wrap the heavy paper over that, then several layers of bubble wrap, then work up a container which holds it securely.

Tell your friend to wax it carefully when it arrives.

[Julie Moriarty]

Which brand of lacquer are you using? What type - Pre-cat, Post-cat or just regular NC lacquer?

Behlen Stringed Instrument Lacquer.

I bought this thinking it wouldn't scratch the month old lacquer
http://wesupplymusicians.com/ProductImages/FenWorkStaOpen.jpg
I was wrong.

So I'm thinking the lacquer is still pretty soft, even after a month. I've told the recipient he'll have to do all the final polishing and buffing but I just wanted to minimize the amount of scuffing the packing combined with whatever the shipping gorillas may cause, so he won't have to deal with deep gouges that the typical final polishing and buffing might not take out.

[Shawn Pixley]

You may want to wrap the guitar in undied felt (you may want to wash it first).

[Mike Henderson]

I had a problem shipping a project finished with nitrocellulose lacquer. But I was foolish and wrapped it in bubble wrap. When it got to the buyer, it had marks from the bubbles. I had to teach them how to rub out a finish. Wasn't a good situation.

Mike

[Julie Moriarty]

I had a problem shipping a project finished with nitrocellulose lacquer. But I was foolish and wrapped it in bubble wrap. When it got to the buyer, it had marks from the bubbles. I had to teach them how to rub out a finish. Wasn't a good situation.

Mike

That's the kind of thing I'm afraid of. I think no matter what's pressed against the finish could mar it. About all I can think of is that thick paper used in construction to cover a newly finished wood floor. I realize that finish is more durable than lacquer but at least sharp edges created by bubble wrap, crushed newspaper, etc won't have a chance to dig in.

I've been searching for any articles about this on the web but so far have found nothing. I did find several that recommended shipping the guitar in a heavy duty guitar case. Maybe that will be the way to go.

[Don Huffer]

That's the kind of thing I'm afraid of. I think no matter what's pressed against the finish could mar it. About all I can think of is that thick paper used in construction to cover a newly finished wood floor. I realize that finish is more durable than lacquer but at least sharp edges created by bubble wrap, crushed newspaper, etc won't have a chance to dig in.

I've been searching for any articles about this on the web but so far have found nothing. I did find several that recommended shipping the guitar in a heavy duty guitar case. Maybe that will be the way to go.

Julie
I'd call CF Martin or Gibson. Both groups are very helpful and will probably give you a quick answer. I'd call Martin first.

Don

[Rich Enders]

Most likely the Behlen is just a solvent based NC lacquer. If that is true, then there is no curing, only solvent evaporation. True? If so, what about speeding the evaporation with a hair dryer or other heat source?