I'd like to refinish a P bass of mine. However, I live in a studio apartment, so I don't have things like a work bench, or a well-ventilated area to work in. I was wondering if there's a finish that would be amenable to the kind of low-tech conditions I'd be working in. I was thinking possibly wax or oil finish. What kind of priming do these two require? Thanks in advance.
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Easiest refin
- Thread starter animal52
- Start date
Your biggest work will be stripping off the old finish if you're going for natural wood. You don't know what the wood looks like if you have a painted P so you may be in for a shock.
One of the easiest finishes to put on is an oil finish like Minwax Tung Oil. It'll give the wood some protection and look good depending on how the wood looks. You don't need much of a workshop to do it. You could work on a tabletop well protected with a sheet of cardboard with a sheet of plastic underneath. You will need to crack a window for ventilation as the fumes will linger for a while although they aren't going to be an explosive hazard like spraying nitro could be.
A wax finish won't protect bare wood much. The wood will get dirty and oxidize and not look too good after a while.
But your first problem is what to do to strip the old finish. I use a heat gun but the fumes are quite noxious so I work outdoors. Stripper won't remove a factory poly finish if that's what yours is. And strippers can give off some potent fumes too and shouldn't be used in a confined space. The other alternative is sanding and that generates LOTS of dust. You'll need a way to deal with that. It gets everywhere. I have a house with a basement workshop but any heavy sanding or woodcutting I do is done on my back deck. That dust gets picked up by the furnace in winter and the air conditioner in summer and spreads through the house. I have dust pickup and a giant shop vac and that still doesn't get all of the dust. So outdoors it is for me.
Musiclogic
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There are 2 strippers out in most Home stores and hardware stores. Citrus Strip and Safety Strip, both are non toxic, and made for your situation. Both work amazingly well. You may need to do multiple strips to get it clean, but either of these products will work fine for you. Check into those, and then a good bit of sanding, and you're ready for oil. Sand the bare wood to 320, and you should be able to achieve a nice smooth oil and wax finish.
I've used the Citrus Strip but not Safety Strip. It will not strip a factory poly finish no matter how long it's left on to work. It is non-toxic though and will work (very slowly) on alkyd varnish and oil based paint.
If animal52s P bass has a factory poly finish, then any stripper he's likely to find available won't touch it.
Sorry to be so late gettin back to my own post. The bass in mind has a nitro finish (highway 1), so it may be easier to strip than most.
What about the oil finish, does it reek? Do you have to mix it with thinner of some kind for the first coat, does that get fumey? Thanks again.
What about the oil finish, does it reek? Do you have to mix it with thinner of some kind for the first coat, does that get fumey? Thanks again.
The nitro finish is easy to remove. The strippers mentioned above should do it. There'll still be some sanding involved and the sealer underneath the nitro may be stubborn.
Yes the oil finishes have an odour that lingers until dry but if you crack a window it's not obnoxious or dangerous. It doesn't reek but it's there. I've used it in small studio apartments and it didn't bother me.
You shouldn't have to thin out the tung oil finishes. They're sold ready to go. The Minwax is easy to find in most civilized countries and is as good as any. These finishes are a blend of a drying oil, like tung oil, a resin for a bit of hardness and a solvent similar to paint thinner. Some take longer to dry than others. The Minwax is pretty fast. Check the Carvin website.
I make my own from boiled linseed oil, alkyd varnish and mineral spirits just because I like to and I like the darker look the linseed oil achieves over time. But the Minwax is good and I've used it a few times. Another one I like for looks, although it won't build up as thick as the Minwax Tung Oil, is Minwax Antique Finish. Much more natural look and it really brings out the grain in the wood. You could use a coat of that first, then follow up with the tung oil. Keep it simple though for your first attempt.
Yes the oil finishes have an odour that lingers until dry but if you crack a window it's not obnoxious or dangerous. It doesn't reek but it's there. I've used it in small studio apartments and it didn't bother me.
You shouldn't have to thin out the tung oil finishes. They're sold ready to go. The Minwax is easy to find in most civilized countries and is as good as any. These finishes are a blend of a drying oil, like tung oil, a resin for a bit of hardness and a solvent similar to paint thinner. Some take longer to dry than others. The Minwax is pretty fast. Check the Carvin website.
I make my own from boiled linseed oil, alkyd varnish and mineral spirits just because I like to and I like the darker look the linseed oil achieves over time. But the Minwax is good and I've used it a few times. Another one I like for looks, although it won't build up as thick as the Minwax Tung Oil, is Minwax Antique Finish. Much more natural look and it really brings out the grain in the wood. You could use a coat of that first, then follow up with the tung oil. Keep it simple though for your first attempt.
62 bass, thanks for all the good info (you other guys too, this is really helpful).
If I had a good workstation in a garage for only one week, would that be enough time to complete a refin if I devoted myself entirely to the task?
Also another question. I'm deciding between two project basses, the P with a nitro finish, and a J with a standard fender finish (Poly?). How difficult is it to remove the ordinary finish on a fender as opossed to the nitro?
If I had a good workstation in a garage for only one week, would that be enough time to complete a refin if I devoted myself entirely to the task?
Also another question. I'm deciding between two project basses, the P with a nitro finish, and a J with a standard fender finish (Poly?). How difficult is it to remove the ordinary finish on a fender as opossed to the nitro?
Yes, you can do it in a week if you really go at it. The nitro finish will be easy to remove but the sealer underneath may require some aggressive sanding. You need to get down to bare wood for the oil to penetrate.
The poly finish on the other Fender will probably have to be sanded off. That's a chore. I spent the better part of 2 afternoons doing one just to get it down to bare wood and then sanded up through the grits to a smooth enough finish for refinishing.
I don't know that you could do both in one week. Maybe.
