1st step

[riarojr]

ok so now that i'm gonna have my own finishing trilogy starting here soon i figured i'd begin with the first step in my situation.  you see, i'm RE-finishing a guitar so i have to get the previous finish off first.  i'm not sure what type of finish it is (polyurethane or nitro) but i chipped off a flake of it and it's very VERY thin. i'm wondering what i should use to get the finish off.  i'm gonna get some odorless mineral spirits for the sealer so i can start from scratch on the new finish but will this work for the actual top finish as well?

BTW the guitar is an Ibanez RT250 from 1992 if that helps anyone with finding out info.

thanks in advance,
Rico

 

[ildar]

If I understand your question, mineral spirits cannot be used as a sealer, it is a solvent, i.e. paint thinner.

 

[riarojr]

my bad i prolly worded it wrong.  i meant to get the sealer off..... :-\

 

[ildar]

Ok, well, mineral spirits won't work for that either. Use of a heat gun or just sanding it off will be your best bet.

 

[riarojr]

so anybody know what type of finish this guitar has?  apparently the type of finish dictates the method you can use to strip it....

 

[ildar]

Mineral spirits will remove oil finshes, but not cured paints of any kind.
You can use a chemical stripper, which is what you seem to be looking for, but that's not the most advisable method.

 

[bpmorton777]

there is a thred somewhere here where the guy used a heat-gun to strip a fender jazz bass...looked very clean afterwards probably with minimal fumes and sanding

Brian