Does anyone know how to make lacquer finish crack on the surface?
Les Paul copy. Answer: Although it’s true that nitro finishes crack and craze more readily than poly or urethane finishes (that’s why the auto industry disconinued using it in favor of the newer developing finishes in the early 20’s) Poly strats can be distressed to crack. Using a hair dryer or preferrably a heat gun (use some sense here) warm a small area and then (with gloves on) lay on some dry ice (it’s wicked actually hearing the cracking). The fine patterned cracking isn’t gonna be there like with a nitro finish, but it will crack and can be made to look like it’s been abused. A lot of us working on guitars professionally recommend putting a nitro finish on first then distressing it… the above works well on nitro finishes… you can localized the checking etc. I haven’t used this technique on any of the acrylic urethane guitars I’ve finished… just on nitro and poly…. the acrylic urethane though more workable and buffable than poly is also a lot more tenacious… have fun…
