I'm refinishing an old squire bronco bass. it was my first bass and i haven't even looked at it in years, so i figured if i messed it up, no big deal. Instead of re-painting it, i want to stain the body with a dark ebony so you can still see some of the grain in the wood. My question is, do I need to sand all the way down to the wood, the clear finish is really thick and I would rather not if I don't have to. I've never done this, so any tips or help would be great. Thanks in advance!
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Refinish question
- Thread starter Tony-bobs
- Start date
mikeyswood
Inactive
If you are good at spraying you can do a blackburst finish over it. But I would sand down and lightly dye to the desired color.
Perhaps someone here can list a resource for a transblack finish.
Perhaps someone here can list a resource for a transblack finish.
after looking through some other posts, i think i'll try the heat gun and see if i can get through all that poly. i'll deff put som pix up when i get the thing all finished up...
The heat gun makes it faster. You'll still need to do some sanding after to clean all of it off and then sand to a fine enough grit.
This is a much better idea than your first one which wouldn't have worked. Might as well do it right.
Thanks 62bass, hopefully i'll be able to try this in a week or two. is there a certain heat i should get or avoid in a gun?
keep in mind that the body might be made of a few pieces and a wood finish doesnt always look amazing with giant lines running through it
If its a thick polyurethane finish then you definitely want to use a heat gun. The approach that works best for me is to clamp the body down and hold the heat gun about 6 inches away from the surface just in front of the scraper (make sure its metal with a plastic or wood handle). Once you get under the old finish it should come off in strips.
like I said, this is just a cheapo bass that I'm not too worried about breaking or looking amazing. I'm just trying to get into modding and construction in the easiest, most cost effective way right now. This is it for me, refinishing a bass and upgrading the electronics. I'll pobably end up stealing all the parts out on my next build/mod anyways...
Well, the heat gun I bought about 10 years ago cost me just over $40 and had two settings. They're even cheaper around here lately-about $30. Mine came with a couple of nozzle attachments and I used a rectangular one which seemed to direct the heat best. I used the hottest setting and held it about 6" from the surface, moving slowly and following behind with a flexible metal putty knife, lifting off the paint as it bubbled up. Wear safety glasses. If you do it indoors you absolutely must arrange for ventilation to get the fumes outside. It'll also set off smoke detectors.
The heat gun gets very hot so watch you don't burn your arm. I did that and got quite a blister. As I've said before, there will also be quite a bit of follow up sanding after the heat gun. Get some 40 grit, some 80 grit, some 120 grit, some 180 grit, some 220 grit, some, 320 and some 400, and as fine after that as you need for the final finish. If you're doing an oil finish you can stop sanding the bare wood at 320 or even 220. You'll probably need about 3 sheets of the 40, two of the 80 and one sheet each of the rest. Don't use the cheap garnet paper. It wears out way too fast and is a waste of money. I use aluminium oxide up to 220 grit and silicon oxide above that. As you can see you'll have a few bucks invested in sandpaper.
I was planning on finishing it with an ebony stain and a satin spray-on clear coat. my father-in-law has a heat gun that i'll pry borrow to get this done. If I were going to finish with a solid color paint, would i be able to just sand down to the original paint and then cover with desired color and clear coat or what would be best?
I wish I had tried the heat gun method but oh well. I just finished resanding an SX jazz.
What 62bass said as well as the others make sure you have ventilation. It took awhile and a few bucks of good sandpaper to get thru to the wood. You can tell when all the poly is gone when the wood feels just a tad rough. If a spot feels ultra smooth the poly is more than likely still there, also if you stain you will notice that the stain remains tacky in those spots where poly still exists.
USE A MASK
The sanding on my SX produced a very fine poly powder that gets airborne and into your lungs. I see your in SD so more than likely you will be indoors. I used 400 wet sand for my final pass.
Again ventilation for sanding and especially for application of new poly since the mist can also be inhaled.
What 62bass said as well as the others make sure you have ventilation. It took awhile and a few bucks of good sandpaper to get thru to the wood. You can tell when all the poly is gone when the wood feels just a tad rough. If a spot feels ultra smooth the poly is more than likely still there, also if you stain you will notice that the stain remains tacky in those spots where poly still exists.
USE A MASK
The sanding on my SX produced a very fine poly powder that gets airborne and into your lungs. I see your in SD so more than likely you will be indoors. I used 400 wet sand for my final pass.
Again ventilation for sanding and especially for application of new poly since the mist can also be inhaled.
I'm picking up a running theme here, something about ventilation...jokes
Def. gonna make sure windows are open, not to big on breathing in fumes. If I were going to finish with another solid color, would I need to strip all the way to the wood, or could i just get down to the thick poly coat and start with the new color?
Def. gonna make sure windows are open, not to big on breathing in fumes. If I were going to finish with another solid color, would I need to strip all the way to the wood, or could i just get down to the thick poly coat and start with the new color?
