Refinish questions from a newb.

[Thebrownarrow]

I bought a cheap squier affinity a while back and had the bright idea to strip the body and refinish as a winter project.

I tried sanding it with 280 paper and then put multiple coat on for about four days and this is all I have gotten off. I have a spatula that I have been using and it’s a bit of a workout every day.

Is there anything else I could use? Or should i maybe just call it a day, prime it, spray paint it and then poly it up?

Here’s a picture of my progress.

 

[WI Short Scaler]

I'm not an expert because I only refinished my Musicmaster.

That body was originally black, I only sanded it to the point of getting all the gloss off, primed over the top of that and than my son airbrushed it. The clear was done at an autobody shop and it's held up well. I got the advice that there was no reason to go down to bare wood from a local guy who painted a few.

Maybe that helps. Good luck, it's a very painful process if you don't have alot of patience, many thin coats is the secret rather than fewer heavy ones.

 

[deff]

Heatgun and scraper. Dont burn it. Move the gun around more than is shown here.

 

[dwizum]

If you do use a heat gun, do yourself a favor and wear some gloves! Also make sure there's nothing flammable or damage-able by heat anywhere nearby. Put down a piece of carboard or something to keep your workbench from getting gunked up by hot paint. And clamp the body down so it's not skating around like that.

That said - if you're just going to paint it another solid color, there is zero need to actually go through the effort to remove the existing finish. Think of it as an expertly applied coat of primer. Scuff it, and focus on keeping it level and even (use a hard sanding block, not a soft pad). Spot fill any dents, nicks, holes, or imperfections with bondo. Prime and paint and you're done.

 

[AboutSweetSue]

Definitely the heat gun. It’s about $20. You’ll have that thing stripped in 45 minutes to an hour.