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How to degloss and matte a gloss poly finish.

E

EmmanuelArroyo

Mar 30, 2012
72
1
#1
Hi TBers. Just as the post says, I wanna try and matte finish a bass of mine and want to do so with as litlle hastle as possible. I have a scrap body to practice on and already tried to wetsand with 600 grit WOD paper with water and soap but even though I like the feel and look, it has allot of swirl marks which take away the look.

Thanks.
 
#2
Could try using higher grit paper, or steel wool. I would avoid going straight to a super fine grit though, as you'll still have deeper scratches/swirls under the smooth bits. My impatience has caused this to happen... :scowl: Way to avoid is going up grits in stages, but this causes another issue; you could potentially go through the finish, if you sand too much.
Is it natural finish, or block colour?
One more thing, the higher grit you go, say towards 0000 steel wool and them polishing rubber things, you may get a shinier finish, which would be counterproductive :(
Good luck, sir. :) All the best.

PS, I'm no expert, so I would wait for the cavalry if I were you ;)
 
#4
Phil Jolly said:
Could try using higher grit paper, or steel wool. I would avoid going straight to a super fine grit though, as you'll still have deeper scratches/swirls under the smooth bits. My impatience has caused this to happen... :scowl: Way to avoid is going up grits in stages, but this causes another issue; you could potentially go through the finish, if you sand too much.
Is it natural finish, or block colour?
One more thing, the higher grit you go, say towards 0000 steel wool and them polishing rubber things, you may get a shinier finish, which would be counterproductive :(
Good luck, sir. :) All the best.

PS, I'm no expert, so I would wait for the cavalry if I were you ;)
Click to expand...

Thanks, I trier going up from 600 to 800 but then it just amplifier the swirls. My test bass has a thick a$$ poly finish so I wont worry about it.
 
#5
EmmanuelArroyo said:
Thanks, I trier going up from 600 to 800 but then it just amplifier the swirls. My test bass has a thick a$$ poly finish so I wont worry about it.
Click to expand...


There shouldn't be any swirls, you should sand the entire bass going in just one direction. To get no visible scratches, you need to sand to a much higher grit than 800. You should take it up to about 2000 grit.
 

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