Best way to strip the finish off a guitar?

[mhalsey]

Re: Best way to strip the finish off a guitar?

I've been reading the monthly articles on this subject in GW and he says try not to take the existing sealer off. How do you tell when your removing the sealer and that you'll soon be down to bare wood?

[Bengal65]

Re: Best way to strip the finish off a guitar?

By the time you get to see wood showing through, the sealer is gone. The sealer is a very thin coat of either a lacquer (nitro) finishes or a polyester for synthetic finishes. It's very difficult to leave just the sealer if you are trying to get to the wood. From my experience the sealer is a clear coat and not detectable. Late 60's through the 70's Fender was using a whitish poly sealer. I've not stripped one of those, but I've heard they are equally as difficult as some of the new epoxy based finishes.

[mm2002]

Re: Best way to strip the finish off a guitar?

[ QUOTE ]
<font color="aqua">You guys are doing way too much sanding [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

Learn to use and sharpen a cabinet scraper and you'll make a lot less work (and dust!) for yourselves:



Here's a great article I came across when I just checked google:

CLICK ME!!! </font>

[/ QUOTE ]

I'll admit a cabinet scraper is a cool "old school" way to smooth wood, but has anyone here tried stripping a poly finish with one? I would be interested in the results.

[Budman68]

Re: Best way to strip the finish off a guitar?

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
<font color="aqua">You guys are doing way too much sanding [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

Learn to use and sharpen a cabinet scraper and you'll make a lot less work (and dust!) for yourselves:



Here's a great article I came across when I just checked google:

CLICK ME!!! </font>

[/ QUOTE ]

I'll admit a cabinet scraper is a cool "old school" way to smooth wood, but has anyone here tried stripping a poly finish with one? I would be interested in the results.

[/ QUOTE ]

<font color="aqua">It actually lifts the paint in "chunks" as you scrape without cutting into the wood or even the sealer. Granted you won't be down to the wood in an hour, but put your muscle into it and you might be surprised. It takes a little bit to learn how to get onto making the correct angles of cut and it's not a replacement for power tools but not everyone has those. Give it a try [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

As for old school, I'm sorry, I still don't have enough money for that CNC yet.... [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]</font>

[mhalsey]

Re: Best way to strip the finish off a guitar?

[ QUOTE ]
By the time you get to see wood showing through, the sealer is gone. The sealer is a very thin coat of either a lacquer (nitro) finishes or a polyester for synthetic finishes. It's very difficult to leave just the sealer if you are trying to get to the wood. From my experience the sealer is a clear coat and not detectable. Late 60's through the 70's Fender was using a whitish poly sealer. I've not stripped one of those, but I've heard they are equally as difficult as some of the new epoxy based finishes.

[/ QUOTE ]

That's what I was thinking. To me, it just makes sense to go ahead and take it down to bare wood and just reseal the whole thing. If you try to leave the exisiting sealer on, you're bound to have some places where you've accidentally removed it and then you're screwed when it's time to throw on a coat of paint. Mind you, I've never done a refin before; I'm just relying on common sense in my assumptions.

[Bengal65]

Re: Best way to strip the finish off a guitar?

I've done many refinishes on both Poly and Nitro bodies. With the poly I've always used a chemical stripper, although it does take awhile. The good thing is most of the bodies we have experience on this board/forum is the wood. In most cases, poplar, alder, maple or basswood. These are closed grained woods and don't require a grain filler. Grain filling is a pain in "open grained" woods, such as swamp ash and mahogany, by the way. After stripping one of these bodies with stripper and sanding I wipe the body down with lacquer thinner and let the body sit a couple of days to "flash off" any solvents from the stripper or lacquer thinner that may have entered the grain of the wood. Once the wood is good and dry it can be resealed. A sealer such as Miniwax poly sealer or Behlens nitro based sealers work well. These sealers can be brushed on and sanded rather than having to deal with spraying at this point. I use the Nitro based sealers with Nitro finishes and the Poly sealer for the Poly Urethane finishes.