UV Cured Finishing for Guitars, by Brian Howard

As a lifelong wood finisher and former contractor for small guitarmakers across North America, I've honed my skills with various sprayed finish systems such as Conversion Varnish, Epoxy Urethane, and Nitro. Yet, transitioning to UV-cured finishes posed new challenges despite my experience. Anticipating a shift in industry standards, where shops may soon rely solely on CA repairs and water-based systems (which are suboptimal for guitars) or transition to UV curing, I present this guide to navigating high-quality and suitably thin UV-cured guitar finishes.