Micro Mesh & Polishing a guitar

[Grandturk]

So I'm working on the body of my Charvel 3A. Its got some scratches and such and I want to go over the whole body and try to get the scratches out and polish it up. I was going to get some wet sandpaper and a buffing wheel for my drill and some swirl remover and have at it.

Then I saw this Micro Mesh kit on Stew Mac

http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Tools/Sanding_Tools_and_Supplies/Micro-Mesh_Finishing_Abrasives_Kit.html?read=reviews#reviews

I've heard folks talking about these. Anyone think I can just get this kit and have at it with the guitar and bring it up to a polish by hand with these? Or will I still want to get a buffing pad and swirl remover?

[TommyD]

Micro-Mesh is good shit,for real. However,if you look a little,you can find the kits cheaper,but consider that the Stew-Mac kit has 2 3x6 sheets of each grit.

You CAN certainly raise a fine polish using this stuff,but a swirl remover like Meguiar's #7 or 3M Finesse-It/Perfect-It will pretty well get it back to factory appearance.

I use it a lot working on pool cues,and it RULES. Spinning shafts in a lathe,I can take a maple cue shaft and get it so slick it looks clearcoated. It can be used on maple guitar necks to achieve the same effect. It works on frets too.

The 2 things you need to remember most about it is be wary of the edges of the material,it can cut and cause scratches of it's own,and if you happen to use it on frets or any other metal,don't ever use it for anything with a sprayed finish without rinsing it out completely. Tommy D.

[Grandturk]

Thanks for the info. Which one do you use on pool cues? The Micro mesh or the Finesse It?

[MakeAJazzNoiseHere]

The Micro Mesh might be OK, but you want it on a hard rubber block, so you don't make ripples/grooves/etc. in the finish.

Personally I use 2,000 grit sandpaper and then use some 3M fine cut rubbing compound. If the surface is really rough I might use some 1000 to get the deep scratches out, then 1500, then 2,000 to get the 1500-grit scratches out, then the rubbing compound.

I've never used the buffing wheel attachment mainly because I'm afraid of burning through the paint, which is much less likely when hand-rubbing - and if you sand properly it really doesn't take long to rub out 2000-grit scratches.

[Learn Guitars]

Also, 3M makes a product called Trizac sanding pads too. They have it up to 3000 or 3500 I believe. You barely have to hit it with compound after that stuff.

[TommyD]

I've used the Micro-Mesh on pool cue shafts for close to 18 years. I've been known to use all the way up to the 12000 grit on my own shafts,but honestly almost no one can feel a difference past 3600-4000.

2000 sandpaper also works great for this,as long as the wood is reasonably clean and smooth to start with.

The limited experience I have with Finesse/Perfect-It is usually polishing the butt section up during maintenance,or a refin.

I've rubbed a little on a rag and used it for on the spot polishing too.

I use mine with a 3/8 thick rubber block when maintaining flatness is needed.

It takes some searching on the 3M site,but they offer another product called Imperial Lapping Film,which is the exact same stuff Stew-Mac sells in a little polishing kit. The 3M site has it in 9x11 sheets,in grits down to 1 micron I think,which is about like the 12000 Micro-Mesh. It's basically plastic sandpaper. Tommy D.

[Axewielder]

I've done some very conservative polishing with Micro Mesh 6000 grit. It will only get out the faintest of scratches. I experimented with lower grits on a junk body I had, which resulted in a "haze" to the finish. I'm not sure which grit this can start to happen at.

[Trussrod]

The Perfect-it I have is for dark colors so if you consider buying this sort of product you might have to buy the one for the colors you are buffing. This stuff can last a long time if you keep it in your fridge; at room temp it tends to mold over time.

[Grandturk]

So final question - if I sand the crap out of the body - start with 2000 and go up and up and up - will I still need to hit it with a buffer & swirl remover or hand rub with swirl remover or no swirl remover at all?

[MakeAJazzNoiseHere]

I doubt there is a grit that is finer than rubbing compound but I don't know. But you won't need a buffer.

[Trussrod]

IMO it will turn out better if you use a buffer. Foam waffle pads do a great job removing swirls in the last stage.

[MakeAJazzNoiseHere]

Or... Hand rub it an you won't have swirls to remove.

[Grandturk]

Or... Hand rub it an you won't have swirls to remove.

So - hand rub it with swirl remover after the finest level of micro-meshing it?

[MakeAJazzNoiseHere]

If you use a nice soft clean cloth (cotton t-shirt) and keep your rag folded nice and don't get any dirt on it, you won't get any swirls.

I'm not sure if swirl remover is the proper level of abrasion to use or not. Like I say, I use 3M fine-cut rubbing compound. I don't wax it or anything afterward. I don't have any swirls, unless I got dirt on the rag and didn't go back over it with a clean section of the rag or something, which, that would just be half-assed.

[Grandturk]

Ok - well I went from 1500 up to 12000 wet sanding with the micro mesh and I had plenty of fine sanding scrathes. Hit it with polishing compound twice on the top on the body. Lots of elbow grease. And then Carnuba wax after that. Looks Ok - definitely not factory shine looking.

Next time I ask questions like this - just tell me to leave it as is or buy a new body. I want my 5 hours back.