Shopping List

[integra]

In my previous post I was asking about heat stripping a body. I don't have access to a heat gun right away so i'm going to give the chemical stripper a go first, it certainly looks an easier process! It's a fair trip to my hardware store so I want to make sure I've got everything on my list before I go.

1. Stripper. Any particular brand/strength you'd recommend?

2. SandPaper. What variety of sizes should I pick up?

3. Acetone. Worth getting?

4. Plastic Scraper

Link to Tutorial

Anything important I've missed? Thanks!

[westhemann]

isn't a heat gun under $20 at harbor freight?

and i think chemical stripper is almost useless for most modern guitar finishes

[integra]

Are there NO strippers out there today that are up to the job?

Yeah, I've seen that heat guns are pretty inexpensive, but I was planning on using the one at my university when I get back. If there really are no strippers that can tackle modern finishes then I guess I'll be waiting to use the heat gun.

[westhemann]

i tried every stripper i could find on a polyester finish with no luck at all...

there are good strippers out there...but they are more expensive than a heat gun and much more dangerous to work around

[integra]

Guess it's definitely gonna be up to the heat gun then. Thanks for the replies.

[shanter]

i stripped my 95 strat (poly finish) with aircraft remover. it took about a week to get rid of 90% of it. i had to lightly sand down the rest of it careful not to ruin the contours.

The trick is to get nice cotton cloths (no t-shirts, they dont hold mosture as well as soft cotton cloths) and soak the guitar in the stripper then wrap the guitar in the cloth and the soak the cloth with the stipper. THEN put it in two trash bags to prevent quick drying.

the trick with this is to clean up the peeling paint when its almost starting to dry. if you let it sit too long and the stripper beings to dry then youll have no luck getting the paint off. after you clean up the peeling paint you repeat the whole process.

i went thouhg about 2 cans of the stipper for one guitar. its a bitch to use chemicals but you dont get burns--you get stains.

either way you're partially screwed.

[jer7440]

I am in the middle of stripping an old Cort V right now. I have no idea what kind of finish it has on it. I am using Zip strip. It comes in a rattle can, which I find way easier to deal with than say a 1 gallon can.

I found that I had to rough up the clear coat with some 60 grit sandpaper. It was like once I started to cut through the clear coat a little, then the stripper could get in and do its thing.

Make sure your stripper is fresh. I started with some stripper that was a couple years old, and It didn't work very good. I got the spray can of zip strip last night and that really sped up the process. When I say it sped up the process I don't mean that it is really fast. It is still a slow process it's just faster than the old stripper.

[ByronBlack]

I tried a chemical stripper recently on the rhoades guitar (pictures posted in the in-progress section). After a day the stripper did nothing (was supposed to work after 5 mins) and this was after I sanded through the clear coat.

My advise is if you want an easy job, buy 40 and 60 grit paper and a small palm sander, I took my guitar down to wood in about 3 - 4 hours on and off, wasn't difficult to do and as long as you clean up the dust every 15mins or so it's not that messy.

When you get near wood, you need to bring the sanding grade upto about 120, then move on to 320.

I honestly thing sanding is the best way, you don't risk burning your guitar, you don't risk dodgy chemical accidents, and you have a high degree of accuracy if you step down the grades. And it doesn't take as long as you would think.

The palm sander that I used cost only £20 and that came with enough sanding discs to do most of the guitar.