Best palm sander for removing finish?

[1trussell]

It's about time I got a good electric palm sander. Anyone have a favorite brand/model of palm sander that works expecially well, or at least some advice on a certain type that works well on guitar bodies?

[Offrampmotel]

Re: Best palm sander for removing finish?

I use a Black & Decker Mouse sander that works well. They sell special sandpaper for it that's a bit pricey, but with a little imagination you can adapt normal (cheap) sandpaper to work with it

[Bengal65]

Re: Best palm sander for removing finish?

I have a Black and Decker I bought at Home Depot. Works great.

[rjohnstone]

Re: Best palm sander for removing finish?

The Mouse... works like a dream and it's pointy tip gets into those hard to reach places.
I only use it to break the finish, but it does it very quickly.

[1trussell]

Re: Best palm sander for removing finish?

All right, I picked up a Mouse. Even using 60 grit sandpaper, it's not making a dent. I would like to get down to bare wood. Am I going to have to use a chemical strippre as well?

[rjohnstone]

Re: Best palm sander for removing finish?

Takes a bit of time.
The Mouse will do it, focus on one area and then once you start to see wood, start working your way out. Once you get a good break in the clear, it goes pretty quick.
It took me about an hour to get all the clear and most of the paint off of a Dinky body. I then finished removing the rest of the paint by hand. A Mouse will tear through wood real quick once it gets past the hard clear coat and top coat of paint. Then after hand sanding, I put some 320 grit on the Mouse and lightly went over the body to smooth and even things up.
Also, use compressed air or something similar to blow out the paper every few minutes. Once it clogs up, it's useless.
I went through 4 pieces of 60 grit to break the clear and top coat. Watch the edges and horns... they don't hold up well to the 60 grit. I've rounded a few just a touch the first time I hit them. [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]
Just take it slow.

[1trussell]

Re: Best palm sander for removing finish?

All right, I'll keep at it. Thanks.

[rjohnstone]

Re: Best palm sander for removing finish?

NP.
When I said it was quick in my first post, it's relative. The first body I hand sanded took 3 days. [img]/images/graemlins/crazy.gif[/img]