Paint Sanding

[gilaltom3]

Hey guys, when I go to sand the paint off of a guitar should I use an electric sander or do it by hand?

[bluesbend]

Re: Paint Sanding

Do it by hand.
It'll make you appreciate the electric sander that much more.

[gilaltom3]

Re: Paint Sanding

That's not a good reason lol. I want to stain it and then do a thin coat of paint over that so you can see the wood.

[Scott_F]

Re: Paint Sanding

Well, if it's coated with polyurethane, you're pretty much screwed. I tried to get a poly finish off an old mexican fender and I "relic'd" the wood underneath pretty well in the process.

What guitar are you talking about?

[gilaltom3]

Re: Paint Sanding

It's a mexican strat body

[Dr.K]

Re: Paint Sanding

Here are several different options:

http://www.projectguitar.com/tut/burn.htm

http://www.projectguitar.com/tut/chem.htm

http://www.projectguitar.com/tut/sand.htm

P.S. The chemical stripper does not work well in the cold.

[TheLivingDead]

Re: Paint Sanding

Get yourself a cheap little orbital sander and tons of sand paper in various grits. You'll need to do some parts by hand.

I did my Cali all by hand, stained and poly'd it up. Had this ugly thick clear red poly layer on it when I got it. **** took FOREVER to do by hand.

[gilaltom3]

Re: Paint Sanding

I think I'm gonna go with the heat gun approach. What do you guys think?

[butnut]

Re: Paint Sanding

That's what I'd use. Have fun.

[gilaltom3]

Re: Paint Sanding

Thanks, man.

[Kam]

Re: Paint Sanding

Man, stripping paint off of guitars ****ing sucks. I started sanding my SG before Christmas and I STILL haven't finished.

[gilaltom3]

Re: Paint Sanding

That really sucks dude. I hope you get done soon, and I hope mine doesn't take that long.

[Kam]

Re: Paint Sanding

That really sucks dude. I hope you get done soon, and I hope mine doesn't take that long.

Thanks, man. To be fair, though, that's not four or five months of solid work. Because of the mess it makes, I can only work on it outside and it just got too cold here to work outside over Christmas. Now that it's finally warmed up enough, I've been without it so long that I don't miss it as much so I haven't really bothered to go work on it. Plus I kinda used it's pickups for another project.

And I was doing it all by hand, too. Yours really shouldn't take as long as mine is taking as long as you put the work in. Hopefully the end result will be all worth it. It won't be that much fun. Just bring a cold beer, some good CDs and time will fly.

Good luck, man.

[gilaltom3]

Re: Paint Sanding

Thanks, will do.

[Nightburst]

Re: Paint Sanding

Not here to spoil you fun or anything man but there are some things to keep in mind before you start this labor intensive project:

Stripping the wood of a 'budget' model guitar will probably reveal not the most pretty wood underneath. Especially the guitars with a non- see through finish can be not so good looking under the paint.
Be aware that the body could be 2,3 or even more pieces glued together. That kinda defeats the purpose of a see through finish to me. ymmv. You could resolve this by adding a veneer on top but that adds to the costs and is more work to do.
From the questions you asked I assume that this is your first refinish project, the project will take time as you want to keep errors caused by inexperience to a minimum. Still, there will be things that go wrong. It's almost inevitable in a learning curve. This is alright and can be part of the fun or will take the motivation off the project quickly.

To be honest you'd be much better off with buying a nice figured body that is ready for you to stain/spray it. Less labor intensive and more cost effective IMO.

Hope I didn't spoil it for you!