Removing finish on a laminated instrument?

ukulelearp · Feb 15, 2010

Hi, a friend of mine has a REALLY scratched up guitar. I know it's not a ukulele, but I figured it'd be similar. They'd like to remove the high-gloss finish and leave it with a satin finish. The problem is that the guitar's laminated cedar. How could we remove the finish without removing the cedar veneer?

Thanks!

Moore Bettah Ukuleles · Feb 15, 2010

If the finish coat is otherwise in good condition and all you are trying to do is take off the gloss, how about simply hand buffing it with 0000 steel wool? A bit of carnuba wax applied to the pad will give it the luster of soft butter.

SweetWaterBlue · Feb 15, 2010

Moore Bettah Ukuleles said:
If the finish coat is otherwise in good condition and all you are trying to do is take off the gloss, how about simply hand buffing it with 0000 steel wool? A bit of carnuba wax applied to the pad will give it the luster of soft butter.

Is it ok to use really fine wet or dry sandpaper to do the same thing? If so what grit would be roughly equivalent to the 0000 steel wool?

Edit : I didn't know they made synthetic steel wool, but found this article interesting on the subject, and apparently the sandpaper would not work as well:

http://americanwoodworker.com/blogs/techniques/archive/2009/09/10/super-smooth-poly-finish.aspx

Ahnko Honu · Feb 15, 2010

Moore Bettah Ukuleles said:
If the finish coat is otherwise in good condition and all you are trying to do is take off the gloss, how about simply hand buffing it with 0000 steel wool? A bit of carnuba wax applied to the pad will give it the luster of soft butter.

I do the same thing but use orange oil or Howard's Feed & Wax

ukulelearp · Feb 16, 2010

Would I have to refinish it after using the steel wool?

Ahnko Honu · Feb 16, 2010

Nah, it just removes the sheen from the gloss as well as small scratches but still leaving the finish intact.

ukulelearp · Feb 16, 2010

Thanks for the help guys!

koa · Feb 17, 2010

My travel uke a 1st gen KoAlana had an extremely thick, high gloss poly-of-some sort finish. The finish on the body hid any of the wood tone character (looked like plastic) and the neck just felt too slick. I knocked it down using synthetic steel wool. Basically Scotchbrite, but available in multiple grits. Started with green, but went coarser with the maroon. Then proceeded to finer grits. The stuff is available at woodworking stores.

Removing finish on a laminated instrument?

ukulelearp

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Moore Bettah Ukuleles

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SweetWaterBlue

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Ahnko Honu

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ukulelearp

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Ahnko Honu

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ukulelearp

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