What kind of sander should I use to strip a guitar's paint/finish?

Question

What kind of sander should I use to strip a guitar's paint/finish?

Answer 1

Stripped & refinished a number of solid body guitars.

Would not try to sand the paint off.

Got to remove everything including the neck.

Even cheap guitars are heavily primed , painted & clearcoated w/ various "lacquer" type finishes.

Even w/ commercial strippers it can be a fight.

Just keep at it w/ a gel or paste paint remover till you see wood.

Usually a hardwood so light sanding can be done to clean it up.

If you are going to repaint...... prime ,spot ,colorcoat ,clearcoat & wax just as if you were doing  body/fender work.

Spraycans are fine & you can even do "candy" metallics with them.

Est about $40 for everyhting from auto paint shop.

Got a friends who do body work ....even better .

They will know what to do.

Best regards

Answer 2

None.

Use a chemical stripper or you risk ruining your guitar.

'nuff said.

Answer 3

I agree with Lucy. When it comes to wood instruments I would only use the strip and scrape method. Sanding will only thin out the already thin panels of guitar possibly affecting the integrity of the piece.

Answer 4

If you are talking about a wood guitar body, do not sand it; it may be a veneer. Electric guitars are usually solid hardwood, but not always. Acoustic guitars are almost always a veneer.

Purchase a good set of cabinet scrapers and a burnisher to keep an edge on them. Learn how to use them before starting on the guitar.

Once you get the hang of using GOOD quality scrapers, you may never want to sand again. They don't raise the grain, and they are a pleasure to work with. Once you get the knack of establishing the correct "hook" with the burnisher, you'll be able to get shavings off of the wood just as if you were using a handplane. There is very little danger of scraping through the veneer because it is a slow process. Once you start to penetrate the veneer with a sander, you may as well throw out the piece you're working on.

Answer 5

use paint stripper first, wipe over the guitar paint and leave for 10mins, then scrape it off. You might need to do it twice, if it has thick primer (when i did this, i had three different layers of paint to get through... and a red primer colour)

Then use a small belt sander for large areas and course sandpaper for tricky tight areas. Then a smooth light sandpaper and then wet and dry paper to finish off.

Answer 6

I agree with WoodTick. I used a MOUSE palm sander, small pad, pointed snout, fine paper, light touch.

  I think I'd stay away from chemical strippers, whether or not a solid or hollow body, as the substance of the body and the acoustic properties MIGHT be affected.

  It's a musical instrument, a pretty delicate piece of equipment, not a piece of furniture.

Just my two "sense"

Added thought: I love the fact that the 1st ammendment exists, now you have two of each opinion. Kudos to all.