Stripping a Poly Finish

[Guitar-Sam]

What will take off a poly finish. I am trying to strip the maple finger board on my 1974 strat.
So far I've killed 3 scotch bright pads,2 brillo pads.I've tried Dot3 brake fluid,charcoal lighter fluid and nail polish remover.I've evan slightly tried burning it off with a lighter but I'm affraid to warp the neck or spring a fret getting it too hot.
I've tried paint stripper on poly bodies befor with no luck.What gets this plastic sticky crap off???
I don't want to sand it cause then it will be scalloped which I don't want.
Perhaps gasoline or oven cleaner?
This neck has so much finish on it that the High E side of the frets were level with the fingerboard finish making it near impossible to stretch in spots.

 

[SabbathFan0220]

Re: Stripping a Poly Finish

Chemical stripper. Haha please don't burn your neck with a lighter. I don't use a heat gun to strip necks for fear of warping, and sanding between the frets is difficult.

The only problem with chemical stripper is any plastic parts on the neck (possibly the nut and inlays) will melt as well. You may have a bone nut and clay dots, and it won't be an issue though.

Here's the one I've used with good results, but there are many available...

 

[Agileguy_101]

Re: Stripping a Poly Finish

Here's the stripper I use

 

[FuseG4]

Re: Stripping a Poly Finish

Sanding with a block. I used 150 to rough everything up and then sanded it smooth with 200. Sanding like that by hand won't mess the neck up as you don't need to push very hard. once the neck is completely matte all over when viewed in good lighting, you can safely spray nitro or whatever til the cows come home. It's very, very easy, you just have to be thorough and clean and/or change your sandpaper pretty often to keep it from gunking up. It takes about an hour or an hour and a half. Listen to some music and wear a dust mask.