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Stripping the finish on a guitar...

3K views 17 replies 7 participants last post by  Yevetz 
#1 ·
How easy is this to do?

I'm asking as I was thinking recently that my headless would look awesome with an oiled wood finish...
 
#2 ·
It depends on what the finish is and how well it was applied, sometimes it is very easy and other times it is frustrating. Some people use chemical stripper which makes it much easier but I prefer sanding on a guitar especially with something that you don't plan on repainting as the stripper may stain the wood.

I'm talking about effort here, as far as how complicated it is, it's not. Removing paint is simply a matter of labour, time and patience.
 
#3 ·
Right. What grade of sand paper is best, and what would I use to oil the wood?
 
#4 ·
I can't help you with the oil question, it is something I need an answer about myself.

As for sandpaper start of course and work your way up but be careful, any scratches you put in the wood with course paper is going to have to be sanded out which means removing wood. You could start with as course paper as you feel comfortable with, by hand I would start with something between 60 and 120 but in the refinishing business we never let an apprentice start out with course paper. You could start out with 120 possibly and if you feel real confident you will not go too far too fast maybe 80. Keep moving up to higher grades, by the time you have removed all the finish you should be somewhere between 280 and 400, from there it needs to be fine enough that you can no longer see any scratches.

Keep in mind that it has been over 5 years since I last worked with a clear finish over wood so Im not 100%, this is more of an educated guess.
 
#5 ·
Cheers dude. Very helpful.:)
 
#8 ·
I Start with 50 usually on a palm sander to get through the clearcoat on Ibanez guitars, cause the Poly, while thin and prone to chipping, is nearly bulletproof and nearly immune to sandpaper. once that's off, I start going up, I usually finish it off with something approaching 800, 1000 if it's a really nice guitar.
 
#9 ·
my guitar is oiled with tung oil...if it helps :)

















 
#12 ·
Word :metal:
 
#18 ·
:metal:
 
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