Epoxy Removal

Fong249 · #1 07-26-2006, 02:56 PM

I've done a good bit of looking around for the proper way to remove epoxy. I've been refinishing an epoxy neck and had a few things go wrong, I was curious to what you fellas have used to remove epoxy. One suggestion involved pinesol, and/or heating the epoxy then using a scraper to throughly remove, then sanding, which seems like its not so bad. Give me advice!

andvari7 · #2 07-26-2006, 03:48 PM

Good luck. I tried doing the same thing once. I used Easy-Off (oven cleaner), steam and iron, sandpaper, paint stripper. Everything. No go. Fortunately, I had to remove the fingerboard to get a new truss rod in there, and replaced it with a new cocobolo. It's too bad I have to part that bass out (it's beyond saving now, but it lasted over a year and a half).

Fong249 · #3 07-26-2006, 07:26 PM

I got lucky. I caught the problem before it fully cured. Ended up using a radial sander. What happened is that i had an epoxy spill and the back of the headstock got coated by a nice layer of epoxy.

I just nailed the back of hte headstock wth a random orbit sander for about 3 seconds, problem solved. Will have some funny looking finish on the back, but who sees that but me

vinny · #4 07-27-2006, 08:46 AM

Heat gun & a blade.

Watch the heat.

Disclaimer: I'm not a luthier, my experiences with epoxies are related to industrial applications. YMMV.

Musiclogic · #5 07-27-2006, 10:36 AM

blow dryer and a scraper. Keeps the heat from getting too intense, yet softens the epoxy enough to scrape off. Takes a little elbow grease, but in the end can be well worth the time.

Fong249 · #6 07-27-2006, 12:29 PM

Thanks guys! Great advice!