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CRAP! Sanded the edges too far. Guitar is deformed


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I haven't painted many guitars, but all the ones I have, this happened. I'm sanding the edges and I sand through the paint right into some wood. Now, instead of side and front of the guitar meeting at a nice edge, part of the edge is flatter than the rest and it's all uneven. Is there a way I can fix that (I usually don't, well at least I never did before), or is there some way to keep from doing that again?

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The best way to not do that again is to not do that again. :D

You just have to be careful along the edges. I don't really touch the edges much when I'm sanding between coats or wetsanding before buffing. The buffing pad does enough on the edge to smooth it out. Unless I have to remove drips or major orange peel, I only hit the edges with 1500 grit or so right at the end so they're straight, and without lumps.

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I guess the answer is still the same. Be more careful and switch to a finer grit when it's time to do the edges. If you're using an electric sander to strip, like a random orbit, then stop before you get to the edge and block sand the edges.

You're really asking how to improve your technique, and if its something that happens to you often, then you have to change the way you do things to eliminate the possibility. Finer grits, more caution, more hand work, etc. You have to take what causes your error out of the equation. It might mean it takes more time for you than someone like me who has total control of a random orbit sander because I've spent countless hours with them in my hands.

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Yeah acrylic lacquer is sprayed on in paper thin coats, you should never try to sand at all until you have a nice layer on it, then still watch the edges. I would recommend you spraying at least 5 good coats of color before any sanding is done. Then spray 2 to 3 more before resanding each time. I think a decent coverage would be 12-15 coats, clear and color base combined. That's one of the reasons I never use any lacquer paint anymore besides many more downsides to it.

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What you could do to build back paint in one area is to either let it dry good, mask the area off so only the bad spot is showing and go over it good with different coats to build it back up. Another way would be to get a small empty bottle and spray a small amount directly into it, then squeeze a little out to fill in that certain spot, let it dry then go over it with sandpaper to level it out. Don't worry about applying too much or reapplying because you want enough on it so that you can sand it down level with the rest of the surface.

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The problem here is that it sounds like you mean after painting it you sand too much away and reveal the wood. But you really mean that while you are stripping it you deform the body edge, right? As far as a fix, all you can do is round the edges uniformly to a more rounded shape to smooth it out. Or route the edge with a larger radius bit than what the edge treatment was originally.

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