Polyurethane finish.. best way to remove?

[JacksonMIA]

Re: Polyurethane finish.. best way to remove?

It depends on how much your time is worth to you. By the time you spend $30 in stripper, gloves, disposable brushes, etc, you might as well buy an inexpensive power sander. A belt sander might be a bit excessive for the job, but an orbital sander will cut a lot faster than your arm can, and still gives you enough control not to sand through the finish unevenly and take away too much wood.

Even with an orbital sander (all I had at the time) stripping my old Ibanez took the better part of two whole days. I tried two different strippers on it, neither of which did much to remove the finish.

I spent a total of about $10 on materials that I couldn't reuse (I didn't need the cleaner they sold - I found several ways to clean up the wood that were much easier). The stripper is about $6, a dollar for a pack of latex gloves, a dollar for a brush (I could have used that instead of the scraper, as I did the first time). I did it all inside my apartment without a mask - all in the course of a day. The only side effect was that my apartment smelled like oranges for a week.

I won't buy an inexpensive sander, though, as all of the cheap ones I found are made in China. I went this route out of necessity as much as convenience, so you might prefer the sanding route. Be sure to wear a mask, though.

That stripper may not work on some finishes, though. I have only tried it on Peaveys and an Epiphone. Someone may use a finish that is tougher, though I'd be surprised if it gets much tougher than the five distinct layers of that Epiphone.

That reminds me of a mix my dad does with lime stone and a couple other ingredients. Nasty stuff, you'd only use it if you don't care about your health or the surface. He laid off of making it cause it would eat anything it was place in. Gloves couldn't handle it.

This stuff is made specifically for antique furniture. The cheap latex gloves will hold up with no problem (though the sharp corners on some guitar cavities will do a number on them), and the fumes are non-toxic. I wouldn't suggest eating it, though.

 

[tubeman87]

Re: Polyurethane finish.. best way to remove?

Sand it, it is a real bitch to do, but I'd rather spend my time and energy sanding a perfectly good body than droping a few hundred on a new body. Trust me your better off sanding.

 

[Ayrton]

Re: Polyurethane finish.. best way to remove?

I just removed the finish from a Fender body, and this was not my first, so let me speak from experience.

Fender’s finish is damn near military grade, so don’t even bother with sanding.

Using a heat gun will work, but you run the risk of burning the wood, it is quite messy, and you can chip the wood when scraping the finish off.

To me the easiest method is aircraft paint stripper. Regular strength stripper will not even make a dent, so go with the pro stuff. You can find aircraft stripper at any auto parts store, and get the gallon. You will need one of those cheap baking pans, disposable gloves, cheap throw away paint brushes, and a plastic paint scrapper.

Set the body in the pan and pour on a thick heavy coat of stripper, and then go watch a movie…a long one. When you come back after 3-4 hours you will find that the stripper has only removed maybe a third of the thickness of finish. Scrape off the old, and pour on the new. You will have to repeat this process until you have bare wood. How long and how finish is removed depends on the brand of stripper, the temperature, and how long you leave it on. Once you have removed all of the finish, wash down the body with mineral spirits (paint thinner) to remove any left over stripper.

Be careful with getting the stripper on anything painted, as it will remove the paint instantly. I dropped a 24 hour old blob of stripper on my table saw, and in the time it took me to grab a rag, the finish was gone.

I did my latest Fender body in four applications of stripper and I left each one on over night.

Hope this helps

 

[d1dsj]

Re: Polyurethane finish.. best way to remove?

Ayrton, that sounds like a solution! I'm in the UK and I'm not sure I'll find stripper with that sort of strength readily available. I'll go look this weekend, but if I can't find any I'm gonna leave it 'coz it's too cool a guitar to wreck! Thanks to all for the replys.... I'll let ya'll know if I do it and how it comes out.

 

[Zerberus]

Re: Polyurethane finish.. best way to remove?

I just removed the finish from a Fender body, and this was not my first, so let me speak from experience.

Fender’s finish is damn near military grade, so don’t even bother with sanding.

Using a heat gun will work, but you run the risk of burning the wood, it is quite messy, and you can chip the wood when scraping the finish off.

To me the easiest method is aircraft paint stripper. Regular strength stripper will not even make a dent, so go with the pro stuff. You can find aircraft stripper at any auto parts store, and get the gallon. You will need one of those cheap baking pans, disposable gloves, cheap throw away paint brushes, and a plastic paint scrapper.

Set the body in the pan and pour on a thick heavy coat of stripper, and then go watch a movie…a long one. When you come back after 3-4 hours you will find that the stripper has only removed maybe a third of the thickness of finish. Scrape off the old, and pour on the new. You will have to repeat this process until you have bare wood. How long and how finish is removed depends on the brand of stripper, the temperature, and how long you leave it on. Once you have removed all of the finish, wash down the body with mineral spirits (paint thinner) to remove any left over stripper.

Be careful with getting the stripper on anything painted, as it will remove the paint instantly. I dropped a 24 hour old blob of stripper on my table saw, and in the time it took me to grab a rag, the finish was gone.

I did my latest Fender body in four applications of stripper and I left each one on over night.

Hope this helps

In theory yes... in practice the kind of stripper you speak of has been outlawed for non-commercial use in almost all EU countries.... He´ll definitely want to check what´s available, as it may be that its still allowed in the UK. Though considering how they´re going nuts about nitro already, I kinda doubt it....