Refinishing A Fenandes Jazz Bass, Issues...?

[Fogoverla]

I started stripping off the Poly finish of my Fernandes with a heat gun and 2 thins happened.

1. I started to get a slight bit of separation of the pieces of the body (once the body cooled down the gap became almost unseen). Do I need to see about getting some wood glue in the gap, or should a sealer fix it?

2. I discovered a clear finish under the 3TS that in some places I scraped through. It's got a whitish appearance (due to it being partially scraped through. Not sure if it's a sealer or what, any thoughts?

 

[Beej]

Regarding 1. pics would be helpful for others to get a better understanding of what has happened and potential ways to repair/address it.

Regarding 2. I think you've removed the poly and now you're at the poly. In other words the topcoat was probably some kind of polyurethane coating, but you've worked your way down to what is very likely the polyester sealer coat on the bass.

If you're planning on a solid colour refinish - stop here, just sand out the body from 120ish on up to 220 (I like 320) and then you can paint from there. Great info in the stickies at the top of this forum homepage.

If you want a transparent finish, you might be able to get it with the sealer coat in place, but you'll need to smooth the sealer coat first to test it with a splash of alcohol to simulate a finish. If it's no good, you can remove the sealer coat with good old elbow grease and sandpaper. Heat and chemicals will be laughed off by the polyester...

 

[Fogoverla]

I got through the sealer coat in a few places, and I have to repair some gouges in the wood, so I am going to just get down to the bare wood (might need to fill in some holes depending on how the hardware matches up).

I will see about taking some pictures when I get home tonight, although when I took a look at the bass several hours after the heat treatment, I can't even work a fingernail into the place where it separated. Pictures forthcoming though!

 

[Hopkins]

Are you doing a natural finish or solid color?

 

[Fogoverla]

Nitro Lacquer

 

[Hopkins]

Nitro Lacquer

Clear finish, or solid color?

 

[Fogoverla]

I realized I did not answer the question lol, solid color!

 

[Hopkins]

I realized I did not answer the question lol, solid color!

There was no need to take it to bare wood. I wish you would have asked before you started stripping it. You could have just filled any dings, or chips and sanded the original finish with 400 grit and sprayed over it.

The original finish would have been a nice dead flat surface to spray over, and you would have saved yourself a ton of work.

 

[Fogoverla]

I am interested it working with the bare wood. I have done a lot of furniture refinishing and I don't mind the extra work. This is something that means a lot to me and taking the time to do it right is what I want to do.

 

[Hopkins]

I am interested it working with the bare wood. I have done a lot of furniture refinishing and I don't mind the extra work. This is something that means a lot to me and taking the time to do it right is what I want to do.

This would imply that spraying over the existing finish is doing it wrong. The fact is, the existing finish is a perfect sealer coat.

So I guess I would rather do it wrong with a better result and less work, instead of doing it right and working hard and the end result not turning out as good.

Ive seen a lot of threads where the original finsh was stripped, and the end result was a wavy finish that could have been much better.

 

[Fogoverla]

The information I have found suggests that there are different tonal qualities to a poly vs. Nitro finish. It also seems that the some of the reasons for a wavy finish is that is due to rushing the job, or using improper equipment. This is a projects I don't intend to finish until the end of summer at the latest, and I am perfectly happy waiting until the end of the year. I am also getting a bare warmoth neck and finishing that in a nitro finish with the same color on the headstock, so I want to make sure it matches correctly.

Also, I DID post about a poly to Nitro finish several days before I started work on it. No one responded, so I went out and hunted down the information from what I would consider to be some reputable sources.

I wasn't calling you wrong, please don't think that.

 

[Hopkins]

I personally dont put much stock in the tonal differences between two different types of finishes.