mightyboy88
Member
Recently i decided to refinish my ibanez rg7420 in cosmic blue and the plan was to strip it down to bare wood, create a virtual "top" using a stain and then finish it in oil
Original Guitar
Firstly i used a heat gun and a scrapper to remove the paint on the guitar. If you do decide to use a heat gun, be sure to wear safety googles and a dust mask. I tried 5 minutes without a dust mask and it was abit too much to bear.
Next up, i sanded the guitar down to bare wood. I realised that the only sandpaper grit that could do the job was the coarsest i could find. An 80 grit sandpaper. The technique to adopt for sanding a guitar down to barewood should be using a coarse sandpaper to remove any major scratches or paint remnants etc and then using a finer sandpaper(200 grit followed by 300grit) to remove the fine stratches that the coarse sandpaper would have impacted upon the wood.
Here is what it is after being relatively sanded clean. I found out upon staining that it wasnt sanded clean enough :C
sanded it down cleaner and started staining it with a water based walnut stain
I found that it was incredibly easy to get multiple coats of stain on the guitar while letting it dry directly under sunlight.
after about 10-15 coats
after allowing it to dry i then proceeded to oil the finish. my choice of oil was boiled linseed oil, which unlike oils like tru-oil or tung oil, it doesnt build up with multiple coats. Hence, the technique for application is as such. Apply generously, wait for 5 minutes before wiping off the excess. Wipe off the surface every hour or so as the wood gradually expels out the excess oil it cant absorb. Let the piece dry for 48 hours or more. I realised that the best way to do this was to work on the guitar part by part. ak.a. start by oiling the top first, when it is more or less dry proceed to the back and then to the sides. My mistake was to oil te entire guitar in one shot, which make the piece rather messy and i had to use quite a bit of lighter fluid to clean things up.
i think this was after the oil had dried
Finally, i used a birchwood casey stock sheen and conditioner to give the oil finish a satin feel and natural look. Following assembly of electronics and the hardware this is the finished product
Original Guitar
Firstly i used a heat gun and a scrapper to remove the paint on the guitar. If you do decide to use a heat gun, be sure to wear safety googles and a dust mask. I tried 5 minutes without a dust mask and it was abit too much to bear.
Next up, i sanded the guitar down to bare wood. I realised that the only sandpaper grit that could do the job was the coarsest i could find. An 80 grit sandpaper. The technique to adopt for sanding a guitar down to barewood should be using a coarse sandpaper to remove any major scratches or paint remnants etc and then using a finer sandpaper(200 grit followed by 300grit) to remove the fine stratches that the coarse sandpaper would have impacted upon the wood.
Here is what it is after being relatively sanded clean. I found out upon staining that it wasnt sanded clean enough :C
sanded it down cleaner and started staining it with a water based walnut stain
I found that it was incredibly easy to get multiple coats of stain on the guitar while letting it dry directly under sunlight.
after about 10-15 coats
after allowing it to dry i then proceeded to oil the finish. my choice of oil was boiled linseed oil, which unlike oils like tru-oil or tung oil, it doesnt build up with multiple coats. Hence, the technique for application is as such. Apply generously, wait for 5 minutes before wiping off the excess. Wipe off the surface every hour or so as the wood gradually expels out the excess oil it cant absorb. Let the piece dry for 48 hours or more. I realised that the best way to do this was to work on the guitar part by part. ak.a. start by oiling the top first, when it is more or less dry proceed to the back and then to the sides. My mistake was to oil te entire guitar in one shot, which make the piece rather messy and i had to use quite a bit of lighter fluid to clean things up.
i think this was after the oil had dried
Finally, i used a birchwood casey stock sheen and conditioner to give the oil finish a satin feel and natural look. Following assembly of electronics and the hardware this is the finished product
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