Stripping Nitro Finish

[elgravos]

Hi Guys,

Long time no post - looking for some more finishing wisdom from the Warmoth crowd...

In short: I have a maple neck that has a crappy clear nitro finish.  I had it redone a few years back (it previously had about an inch thick coat of poly) and it's fair to say they did a bad job on the refinish.  Never cured right etc...  Neck is old (88) and very stable so I was planning on sanding the nitro back to the bare wood and then doing a tru-oil finish.  I was doing a little token research as this one seems straight forward, but then, on a number of sites, people were suggesting using a thinner to remove the nitro rather than just sanding it off.  As a result, I'm feeling a little confused about the best course of action.  Should I use some kind of thinner or should I stick to plan A and get the trusty 200 grit out and go to town?

Cheers!

 

[bagman67]

Acetone is the main ingredient of lacquer thinner, and it dissolves lacquer on contact.  It will make short work of a nitrocellulose coating on your neck.  You'll want to do it in a very well ventilated area, but it won't be much trouble.  Then you can sand the neck to get it prepped for the new coating without having to elbow-grease the old coating off first.

 

[dmraco]

Yep.  Lacquer thinner will get 90% of it off.  Like bagman67 said....do this out side. 

You will still have to sand, especially if the lacquer has tint to it.  Some if it will be left behind. 

what is your project?

 

[AirCap]

Don't sand it. It's already been sanded at least twice - once at the factory, and once when it was refinished. Use maroon or gray Scotchbrite along with your choice of acetone, lacquer thinner (NOT paint thinner), or chemical stripper. That will get the old finish off without removing the wood. Be generous with the acetone or whatever to make sure ANY remaining finish is removed, or when you being applying TruOil it won't sink in. You'll see a shiny spot if you missed anything. Good luck.

 

[Tonar8352]

A well ventilated area is good start but make sure you use a good respirator and rubber gloves. You can get as much of that stuff in your system through the largest organ on your body (your skin) as you can breathing it.

 

[AirCap]

Well, natch!

 

[elgravos]

Thanks guys, I've got a can of acetone in the basement so will be giving it a whirl.  Looks like you've (once more) saved me a bunch of time and trouble!  Any tips on technique appreciated!

One more thing: the neck is bound.  Any chance the solvent will do a job on the plastic binding?  I'll obviously tape it up but better safe than sorry...

@ DMRaco: this is one of my old 80s shred guitars - not a Warmoth.  I did a re-furb on it a few years back including the satin nitro neck finish and a 6105 stainless refret.  SS6105s are normally my "go to" frets but for this 80s shredder they felt plain wrong.  I just had some SS6100s installed and now I'm going to deal with the crappy nitro.  Hopefully will get it back to its former glory!

 

[AirCap]

Yup. Acetone will attack the binding.... Just be careful.

 

[Cagey]

Acetone is what is used to laminate binding strips together. It acts sorta like model cement - it melts the parts together. You may get away with taping the binding off, but I think if it was me I'd use a methylene chloride-based stripper instead. It won't attack the binding, but it'll eat that finish off easily. Works on polyurethane, too. Downside is, it's pretty toxic so you seriously have to heed the warnings about skin/eye/lung protection and ventilation. There are other strippers, but they're generally more work than they're worth, if they work at all.

 

[bagman67]

Yep, once you mention that your fingerboard is bound, all bets are off. Acetone will destroy most binding.  Do what Cagey suggests and go with a methylene chloride product.

 

[bagman67]

There are other strippers, but they're generally more work than they're worth, if they work at all.

This is true whether you are talking about finish-removal chemicals or exotic dancers. 

 

[Cagey]

Hehe! I thought of that, and was going to include some pictorial examples to make it easier to identify such creatures in the wild. But, then I remembered that as close as I can tell, this forum is populated entirely by adult males who probably wouldn't appreciate such distractions from their important guitar work :laughing7:

 

[elgravos]

Fair warning - and bummer - now I'm going to have to head over to the hardware store...  any suggestion for brands??

EDIT: missed the link there... thanks Cagey.

Also, how do I neutralize this stuff once the finish is off?  Do I just wipe it down with a damp cloth?

Cheers.

 

[Cagey]

Supposedly, the gloves to use are these Sol-Vex gloves. Prices are all over the place, so shop it. The latex or nitrile gloves normally used for brain surgery, making meatloaf or mixing lacquer will melt in the presence of methylene chloride, so they're apparently the Wrong Thing to use, but they're what I use because I try to not get any chemical on me in the first place.

Just set up a small table in the garage, tape some newspaper down on it, open the bay door, and lay out your neck and a small aluminum pan of stripper. Note: for handling purposes, you may want to run a neck screw or two into the heel.

Use a paint brush you never plan on using again to slobber the stuff on, and wait a few minutes. It'll do a Hollywood transformation from smooth neck to something that looks like a corpse that's been sitting out too long in about 5-10 minutes. Don't wait too long, or it'll all harden again. Scrape that gunk off onto another pile of newspaper, and maybe go again. You don't need to "neutralize" it, per se. Just wipe it down and wait for the residue to dry. Maybe pick up a can of naphtha and a spare roll of paper towels while you're out getting the stripper - that stuff cleans things up nicely. You'll still have to sand some, but the bulk of everything will be off. It's about a 1/2 hour job that'll probably take you about 2 hours  :laughing7:

 

[elgravos]

Very nice - appreciate the detailed answer.  All bases are covered.