"cleaning" wood prior to sanding?

[keyboardguy]

Hi all,

I'm refinishing an old Carvin LB70 all Koa bass. I will eventually use Minwax tung oil on it, as I do with most of my projects.

The bass has years of 'mojo'; dirt, oils, cigarette smoke, etc. Funk !

The Koa seems oily and greasy, so I started to hand sand it, but was wondering if any of you use a solvent such a mineral spirits, to clean the wood prior to sanding?

Or should I just keep on sanding? I don't want to ruin this beautiful piece of wood.

Suggestions and Comments?




Regards,

Mike

[Greenman]

Naptha gas won't hurt it. Give it a good scrub and away you go.

[Larry Davis]

If there are any surface coatings that will dissolve in solvent you will drive them deeper into the wood. Straight sanding is best.

[tjclem]

What about a cabinet scraper to start with? It won't gunk up like the sandpaper will.

[Cerb]

Originally Posted by tjclem

What about a cabinet scraper to start with? It won't gunk up like the sandpaper will.

+1

I use razor blades whenever I need a scaper, and they are one of the most handy tools that I have. They will scrape through most finishes very fast, too.

[ducknturtle]

I do antique furniture restoration for a living and have removed finishes from hundreds of pieces. There's no reason to clean the wood before sanding, it would make no difference. Personally, I wouldn't sand it at all. It would be both faster and visually better to remove the finish with a chemical stripper like 5F5 or similar brands available from Home stores. Afterwards, clean the wood and nutralize the stripper with mineral spirits and 0000 steel wool. A light sanding is done last. This way you preserve and deepen the natural patination as well as emphasize any figure in the grain.

[keyboardguy]

Thanks for the insights folks!!


Mike

[keyboardguy]

Well, finally I finished the Carvin LB20 Koa. I went with old fashioned elbow grease and sanded with palm sander, finishing with sandpaper and 0000 steel wool. I used Minwax tung oil and put on about 10-12 coats, and not wiping off the final coats so as to get a gloss finish.

There is still an 1/8" groove above the pups where the previous owner placed their thumb. Some real mojo there.

Installed Dimarzio J pups. It sounds great !!

Thanks again for your suggestions.

Mike