How to sand the finish off a guitar?
- Thread starter FPaulLes
- Start date
markedymark
New member
do be extremely careful, do NOT use excessive force while sanding, last thing you wana do it kill the wood instead of the finish.
do let us know the grade of sandpaper, sandpaper isnt just sandpaper yah? to get the best results, you need varying grits.
do let us know the grade of sandpaper, sandpaper isnt just sandpaper yah? to get the best results, you need varying grits.
Grit 80 will take it off in a hurry and you'll hit bare wood if you're not careful. Then you work up in grades til approximately 400 or so. Use your judgement and cross-sand in between the different grades. Btw soak the sandpaper overnight in a bucket first and wetsand thereafter. Use a foam sanding block please. If you just use your thumb directly you'll find that the finish will be uneven due to the curvature of your thumb.
That's the first method.
2nd method is to use a heat gun and a plastic scrapper. The finish will come off in sheets if you apply the correct amount of heat.
Word of caution: it's extremely difficult to make your guitar convincingly vintage looking by using sandpaper alone. It will look outstandingly amateurish if you're not sure what you're doing.
That's the first method.
2nd method is to use a heat gun and a plastic scrapper. The finish will come off in sheets if you apply the correct amount of heat.
Word of caution: it's extremely difficult to make your guitar convincingly vintage looking by using sandpaper alone. It will look outstandingly amateurish if you're not sure what you're doing.
A stained wood finish is very different from a solid colour finished wood. The colour of stained wood comes directly from the stain being applied to the wood, while a solid colour finished wood comes from the colour coat on top of a base coat/primer on top of pore filler coat. So while you can remove the clear coat and colour coat of a solid colour finished guitar without touching the wood since there's a base coat/primer beneathe the colour coat to protect the wood, the only way to remove a stain is to sand off the wood.
Of course, if you mean stained wood finish as transluscent colours, they can be sanded off without affecting the wood as they are basically transluscent colour coats. The mahogany back of my PRS, while having the appearance of mahogany being stained in washed cherry, is actually a transluscent colour coat.
For burst type of guitars, the centre colour is sometimes a stain while the burst at the edges is a colour coat.
Of course, if you mean stained wood finish as transluscent colours, they can be sanded off without affecting the wood as they are basically transluscent colour coats. The mahogany back of my PRS, while having the appearance of mahogany being stained in washed cherry, is actually a transluscent colour coat.
For burst type of guitars, the centre colour is sometimes a stain while the burst at the edges is a colour coat.
markedymark
New member
the "alot of powder" is the finish of the guitar, when using fine grit (if it IS 400 grit) sandpaper, its common and you'll end up going through many many many many many many sheets of fine sandpaper. you could use coarse sandpaper first, then fine ones later, but only if you know what you're doing and you're able to judge just how much finish is left on the body.
re_unknown
New member
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ZiiopBoii
New member
http://www.projectguitar.com/tut/tutorial5.htm
Lots of info here
Lots of info here
thanks almodx
from what i've read online, the colour from the stained wood can only be removed chemically. At the moment, i dont want to mess with chemicals, since my guitar being a neckthru with binding on the neck and all, the chemical may melt the plastic parts
But if im intending to refinish my guitar with a solid colour, do i have to remove the colour of the stained wood? And when Im sanding the clearcoat with the stained wood underneath, how do i figure out when to stop? Dont wanna over-sand.
from what i've read online, the colour from the stained wood can only be removed chemically. At the moment, i dont want to mess with chemicals, since my guitar being a neckthru with binding on the neck and all, the chemical may melt the plastic parts
But if im intending to refinish my guitar with a solid colour, do i have to remove the colour of the stained wood? And when Im sanding the clearcoat with the stained wood underneath, how do i figure out when to stop? Dont wanna over-sand.
Yea there are chemicals that can remove stains. In fact lighter fluid/naptha can remove oil stains. But I don't think it's a good idea to soak an entire oil stained guitar into a huge tank of naptha. They kinda do this for furniture though. Oh well haha.
Actually, if you want to finish your guitar in an entire solid colour, you don't have to even remove the clear coat though you can if you want to for tonal reasons ie. thinner finishes are tonally more resonant in theory. The risk-free way is to use grit 1000 sandpaper and go over the clear coat. This has the effect of removing the gloss from the clear coat so you get a flat satin finish. In essence, this creates little ridges and furrows in the finish so that the new solid colour coat will adhere to the previous coat better since the surface area is increased. Then after you have put on the colour coat of your choice, do the same by scuffing the finish after it has dried. Then you can apply the clear coat to protect the colour coat and to add that extra depth in the finish. Buff the clear coat, and you're done.
Points to note:
1. A better preparation job always yield a better-looking finish. So ensure that the surface is as even as possible before spraying any layers of paint.
2. When you spray your finish, do it horizontally for the first coat, then vertically for the other coat. The criss-crossing of each layer ensures its eveness.
3. If you're spraying using cans, depress the nozzle outside of the guitar first before you actually start spraying on the guitar. This prevents the initial accidental splattering of paint onto the guitar.
4. Start spraying from around 40cm away, and the way of spraying is to do it with consistancy. No sudden jerks as the nozzle crosses the length of the body of your guitar. You should aim for the completion of each pass over the body of the guitar to be approximately 1.5 secs.
5. Spray the can horizontally and not downwards. So this means you have to hang your guitar somewhere. Make sure the can is parallel to the guitar at all times.
6. Aim for a series of light coats rather than a single heavy coat to achieve desired results.
Hmm ok I think that's about all I can recall offhand. Guitar finishing is a very tricky task. Ergh. Watch as much videos as you can on guitar factory tours and how they manufacture their guitars. I believe PRS, Fender, and Gibson all have videos on youtube or something which illustrates their finishing processes. Take note of the techniques and you're set!
Actually, if you want to finish your guitar in an entire solid colour, you don't have to even remove the clear coat though you can if you want to for tonal reasons ie. thinner finishes are tonally more resonant in theory. The risk-free way is to use grit 1000 sandpaper and go over the clear coat. This has the effect of removing the gloss from the clear coat so you get a flat satin finish. In essence, this creates little ridges and furrows in the finish so that the new solid colour coat will adhere to the previous coat better since the surface area is increased. Then after you have put on the colour coat of your choice, do the same by scuffing the finish after it has dried. Then you can apply the clear coat to protect the colour coat and to add that extra depth in the finish. Buff the clear coat, and you're done.
Points to note:
1. A better preparation job always yield a better-looking finish. So ensure that the surface is as even as possible before spraying any layers of paint.
2. When you spray your finish, do it horizontally for the first coat, then vertically for the other coat. The criss-crossing of each layer ensures its eveness.
3. If you're spraying using cans, depress the nozzle outside of the guitar first before you actually start spraying on the guitar. This prevents the initial accidental splattering of paint onto the guitar.
4. Start spraying from around 40cm away, and the way of spraying is to do it with consistancy. No sudden jerks as the nozzle crosses the length of the body of your guitar. You should aim for the completion of each pass over the body of the guitar to be approximately 1.5 secs.
5. Spray the can horizontally and not downwards. So this means you have to hang your guitar somewhere. Make sure the can is parallel to the guitar at all times.
6. Aim for a series of light coats rather than a single heavy coat to achieve desired results.
Hmm ok I think that's about all I can recall offhand. Guitar finishing is a very tricky task. Ergh. Watch as much videos as you can on guitar factory tours and how they manufacture their guitars. I believe PRS, Fender, and Gibson all have videos on youtube or something which illustrates their finishing processes. Take note of the techniques and you're set!
