Stripping poly finish - best way

Haych · November 2021

I have an ash body that I want to refinish - it currently has a poly (I assume) clear coat over red stain.

What would be the best way to remove the poly clear-coat?

I have a Harris scraper which works really well on domestic painted woodwork - is it likely to be equally effective on a poly finish?

My plan is to strip it back to bare wood and then finish sand and apply an oil finish of some kind or maybe a wipe on oil based poly.

What I don't want to do is get part way through and wish I'd never started, give up and have a crappy looking guitar.

Thanks in advance.

ThePrettyDamned · November 2021

If it's thick, I recommend not sanding it off unless you have some industrial kit.

Bar that, I can't help. You're welcome.

Ossyrocks · November 2021

I've had good results with a heat gun. Start very slowly, with the gun at quite a distance and just warm it up. It's actually surprising how little heat it needs to become loose and if it's really thick it will come off in sheets.

Rob

Fuengi · November 2021

Ossyrocks said:

I've had good results with a heat gun. Start very slowly, with the gun at quite a distance and just warm it up. It's actually surprising how little heat it needs to become loose and if it's really thick it will come off in sheets.

Rob

That's how I did my Mexi Strat.

Go steady, you need to think about getting good sized areas of the paint up to heat, then hopefully it will crack and warp and become easy to dislodge.

Don't be tempted to heat a small area.

Very satisfying when it works.

Haych · November 2021

Thanks y'all, I'll give the heat gun a try and see how it goes.

maharg101 · November 2021

I did mine recently - see https://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/212935/strat-shed-its-skin/p1

I used a hair dryer to soften it up. I used a plastic tyre lever to lift the finish. Take your time, once the poly becomes pliable you should be able to direct the heat underneath whilst teasing it up.

Be careful, even hair dryer heat can damage plastics, so it is best to strip the guitar down before starting !

hollywoodrox · November 2021

One of those heat guns ,black and decker that looks like a hairdryer and a scraper , some bits come off easy others are trickier ,watch out for burning , if you do gouge or burn it a bit it can usually be sanded .ni did a classic vibe bass body once ,came out quite well , sanded out gouges and burns. My chisel work wasn’t very good for pickup cavity enlarging .never finished it though

Milk · November 2021

Heat gun and a scraper worked best for me, reminds me I have a telecaster body somewhere unfinished I should sort

NPP · November 2021

used a heat gun and scraper on my Strat. Came out reasonably will, in one area some stuff had penetrated the wood so thoroughly that I could neither scrape nor sand it off but it's not really visible if you don't know where to look.

It's much easier to work on the front and back than in the cutaways / around the horns.

Of course you should completely strip down the guitar before you start but that goes without saying really.

Haych · November 2021

Yes, the guitar will be completely dismantled, I have new hardware I want to bolt to it in any case so it has to come to bits.

While it's in pieces I'll level and dress the frets, too.

Sarge · November 2021

DO NOT use the heat gun with built in scraper, this is putting the heat source far too close to the poly and it will bubble and melt, go with a separate gun and scraper.
Low heat from a distance and keep it moving, really you only want to warm it up and tease the scraper underneath.

McToot · November 2021

Thanks to the OP and the respondents - this is an interesting thread. I'm keen to strip this back to the wood ahead of a re-finish. I'm guessing that all the silly pointy bits will be the most difficult, though on the plus side I'm praying that the existing dings and chips will make it easier to get a scraper under the poly...

JD50 · November 2021

I managed to rub the paint off a late 70s Fender Musicmaster ( White paint had turned banana and had long cracks in the finish that had gone black) with 2 bottles of £1 nail varnish remover from Superdrug some micro fibers cloths and some elbow grease...

RickLucas · November 2021

Paramose will do it.

Haych · November 2021

Well, that was satisfying!

Half hour with a heat gun and a scraper/pallet knife type thing and it’s stripped.

Parts of the finish around the neck pocket had already started flaking off. A slow warming with the heat gun and I could see the paint separating from the body.

Chasing the paint up the wood slowly with the gun and the scraper was extremely effective.

The sides, which I thought would be most problematic, were the easiest part, once the paint warmed up and the adjacent finish on the top was removed it just fell away - it was more like unzipping a cocktail dress from a beautiful woman (does best Swiss Tony impression).

It’s left no staining behind, although there’s a bit of residue, so a decent amount of sanding is to come I reckon.

The body is three pieces, two of which are joined so well you can barely see that they are different pieces of wood. The upper most piece is quite different to the rest though.

It won’t look terrible if I just oil finish the guitar but I’m now wondering whether I should do a surf green finish instead, hmmmm.

Watch this space for further progress, although it might take a while.

Sarge · November 2021

Haych said:

Well, that was satisfying!

Half hour with a heat gun and a scraper/pallet knife type thing and it’s stripped.

Parts of the finish around the neck pocket had already started flaking off. A slow warming with the heat gun and I could see the paint separating from the body.

Chasing the paint up the wood slowly with the gun and the scraper was extremely effective.

The sides, which I thought would be most problematic, were the easiest part, once the paint warmed up and the adjacent finish on the top was removed it just fell away - it was more like unzipping a cocktail dress from a beautiful woman (does best Swiss Tony impression).

It’s left no staining behind, although there’s a bit of residue, so a decent amount of sanding is to come I reckon.

The body is three pieces, two of which are joined so well you can barely see that they are different pieces of wood. The upper most piece is quite different to the rest though.

It won’t look terrible if I just oil finish the guitar but I’m now wondering whether I should do a surf green finish instead, hmmmm.

Watch this space for further progress, although it might take a while.

After I did my first heat gun strip, I walked about with the gun in my hand looking for another victim, so satisfying

Andyjr1515 · November 2021

Haych said:

It’s left no staining behind, although there’s a bit of residue, so a decent amount of sanding is to come I reckon.

Yes - this is very important.

On the one hand, some makers have a clear coat underneath the paint that is as tough as the poly was to begin with! And in most cases there will be odd patches where it looks like it's down to the wood but, in fact, there is still some residue there.

For any stain or oil finish, it is vital that you are down to clean wood otherwise you will get patchy absorption.

The easiest way of checking it's all off is to wipe the body with a damp cloth - the residue areas will show as light patches where the sanded wood darkens with the moisture.

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Stripping poly finish - best way

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