Satin finish owners - what do you use to get nail marks out?

[mo9090x]

hi UU!
I am wondering what is the best thing to use to try to get nail marks off of a Collings satin finish? Is it even possible

You guys must know best from experience.

Please advise.

Thanks!
:anyone:

p.s. Thanks to all in advance for sharing your thoughts!!

 

[Jcollazo]

I've owned a number of satin finished guitars and now 2 uke's..... I haven't found a way. But then again, I have not looked for a solution. To me it's part of the history of that instrument. If it didn't bother me with a high end Taylor guitar, it won't matter on a lower end Kala.

My 2¢

 

[mo9090x]

I agree with you, however, the nail marks are not mine. They were there when I bought the instrument...part of the shop's way of letting people try before you buy. It didn't bother me enough to not get it (a nice Collings Koa concert) but I was hoping to start fresh with my own markings. If there isn't a way then I might just have to suck it up and live with them :music:

 

[OldePhart]

Okay, take this with a grain of salt because I haven't done it speciifically to remove nail marks (and, honestly, if the marks are deep enough to be actually impressed in the wood it's not going to help). That said, I've used very fine steel wool, followed by a good rubbing of a couple of coats of Renaissance wax, will remove many other types of marks from some satin finishes.

As always test an inconspicuous area if you can because not all finishes are created equal. Also - if it's a particularly valuable or vintage instrument chances are the nail marks are less detrimental to the value than any attempt to remove them might prove to be!

John

 

[mm stan]

hi UU!
I am wondering what is the best thing to use to try to get nail marks off of a Collings satin finish? Is it even possible

You guys must know best from experience.

Please advise.

Thanks!
:anyone:

p.s. Thanks to all in advance for sharing your thoughts!!

It Depends How deep your scratches are...any Pic's I Polished my satin finish collings to a gloss finish with Nu Finish Auto polish and they have scratch doctor which is stronger..
...

if the scratch is deep and you can see bare unstained wood, I use a
touch up furniture markers from the craft store....they have a 5 pack assorted woods....I found one for my mahogany martin, then I polish over to remove excess from the sides....Good Luck..

 

[Doc_J]

First i'd say leave it alone. A professional piano finish repairman suggested to me using wool lube with a white scotch pad, going lightly with the grain. But you have to do the whole top. Yes, satin finishes are harder to repair.

I've used this successfully on some nitro satin finish blemishes.

YMMV.

 

[mo9090x]

mm stan, you are not worried that Nu Finish will be bad chemicals for the wood?

It Depends How deep your scratches are...any Pic's I Polished my satin finish collings to a gloss finish with Nu Finish Auto polish and they have scratch doctor which is stronger..
...if the scratch is deep and you can see bare unstained wood, I use a
touch up furniture markers from the craft store....they have a 5 pack assorted woods....I found one for my mahogany martin, then I polish over to remove excess from the sides....Good Luck..

 

[olgoat52]

Novus #2 White and red bottle. You can get it at a harley dealer. They use it to polish out acrylic windshields. Works great on guitar and uke finishes.

 

[mo9090x]

Sounds like better for gloss finishes. You still recommend this for satin finishes?
Thanks!

Novus #2 White and red bottle. You can get it at a harley dealer. They use it to polish out acrylic windshields. Works great on guitar and uke finishes.

 

[mm stan]

Nah..actually for me it is like future protection...and it looks real nice...yes with your current scratches..no
matter if you go easy, if the the scratch is deep, and you scuff or sand it..it may go to bare wood..then you
have a bigger problem...satin ukes are always harder to fix.. I know putting polish on is bad to some, but it is the
best of two evils......git yer done... but it has been great for me.. do you have a pic so we can see the extent
of your scratches...I have done this for years with my ukes, with no ill effects..Not all satins will gloss with polish
luckly collings is one...

 

[mo9090x]

The scratches are not deep. Just very surface and can only be seen from an angle, not straight on. I tried to take some pics, not sure if you can tell or not. There are more than what show up in the pics, but they prove difficult to capture on film.

 

[mm stan]

If it was me I wouldn't be too agressive and use nu finish scratch doctor, it will add a gloss to the top but
it would protect in the future and hopefully remove those scratches..good luck

 

[bazmaz]

Sounds like the nail marks on my satin Kanile'a - I can't see a way of fixing them without

A) perhaps sanding, or

B) polishing and changing the look of the instrument.

As such, I'm happy they are there - doesn't affect the tone.

 

[mo9090x]

ok thanks mm stan!

If it was me I wouldn't be too agressive and use nu finish scratch doctor, it will add a gloss to the top but
it would protect in the future and hopefully remove those scratches..good luck

 

[mo9090x]

Yeah, after getting feedback from you guys I'm thinking that I'm going to leave it as is and add my own marks, heheh.

Thanks for your input!
Monica

Sounds like the nail marks on my satin Kanile'a - I can't see a way of fixing them without

A) perhaps sanding, or

B) polishing and changing the look of the instrument.

As such, I'm happy they are there - doesn't affect the tone.