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Post subject: Re: How to clear lacquer finished strat
Posted: Thu May 09, 2013 10:03 pm
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Mr C, if I ever have surgery, I hope the dr takes as much pride in his work as you do. A real craftsman. :D


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Post subject: Re: How to clear lacquer finished strat
Posted: Fri May 10, 2013 10:55 am
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Location: Peckham: where the snow leopards roam
nikininja wrote:
And ask Alycia if you don't believe me, I wasn't distressed, I was in tears when I called you.

How is she, BTW? Gotta tell you, ladies and gentlemen, Nikininja has about the nicest missus you could dream of. He's a lucky fella.


GTG wrote:
Mr C, if I ever have surgery, I hope the dr takes as much pride in his work as you do. A real craftsman. :D

Haha - thanks, man! :D

Ya know, I'm just an amateur guitar maker. And I'd be happy to try my hand at open-heart or brain surgery too on the same basis, if that would be helpful. Need some work done? Gissa call... 8)

Cheers - C

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Post subject: Re: How to clear lacquer finished strat
Posted: Fri May 10, 2013 1:14 pm
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nikininja wrote:
Shock horror! Thought you'd dropped off the planet O.O


Nope, gravity is keeping me pinned to the planet. I still post one in a while (look at the threads involving vintage Strats, that's where I'm likely to pop up).

I wish my Les Paul Goldtop's headstock repair looked as invisible as yours! Mine's solid though (knock wood). Cheers to Ceri!

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Post subject: Re: How to clear lacquer finished strat
Posted: Fri May 10, 2013 2:15 pm
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orvilleowner wrote:
Cheers to Ceri!

Cheers to you too, Orville! :D

Ta-ta - Ceri

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Post subject: Re: How to clear lacquer finished strat
Posted: Sat May 11, 2013 3:07 am
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Yep she's fab, still as patient, kind, temperate, careful and thoughtful (basically everything I'm not) as ever. Training to become a chiropodist at the moment.

Just to do a bit of name dropping I was sharing a stage with the guitarist from The Prodigy last night. Gizz Butt, right nice chap. Had him trying to spot the break on that Les Paul. Now there is a bloke that knows his guitars and gear, he couldn't find it.


O.O blame that Isaac Newton (also from my neck of the woods) for inventing gravity. We all used to walk around half inch off the floor and saved loads of money on shoes. Before he rolled up with his gravity inventing ways and chain of shoe repair shops.
(or that could just be cobblers)

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Post subject: Re: How to clear lacquer finished strat
Posted: Sat May 11, 2013 12:40 pm
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Ceri wrote:
kaveh wrote:
Ceri wrote:
- As above -


hey C , how are ya doing . I know acetone will damage the finish but maybe a touch of very thinned acetone applied to a microfiber cloth may not do so much of a damage ?? do u have the experience of applying acetone to the lacquer finished surfaces ? may be a rapid cleaning with soap and water after that and not touching the instrument for several days lessen the risk ? there is no easy way ? really ???? :|

Hi again kaveh: honestly, I wouldn't touch that lacquer with acetone. Far too risky - very unlikely to be able to dissolve the glue without damaging the nitro too.

But don't worry, we're here to help.

Iran, huh? Man, that's a country I haven't visited yet and I'd love to see it! Unfortunately, I'm busy right now and can't jump on a plane to come and work on your lacquer problem, but we can help you to help yourself over the internet. First, have another look at that Dan Erlewine page (above). He is putting a drop of cellulose on there to repair a dent in the finish, but essentially the levelling out process is the same as what you need to do.

If you don't want to try his razor blade technique then go straight on to the strip-sanding. This is reasonably simple and very easy to control accurately. Begin by cutting yourself several strips of sandpaper, or better still wet-and-dry paper (emery paper - whatever you like to call it: your English seems excellent).

Like Dan, start with something around P300-400 and work your way up in stages to about P800. I've done you some pictures. Here's a strip of sandpaper:

Image

And here's a wobbly little demo of how to use it for strip-sanding:

Image

As you see, you press with one finger where the bump you want to level is, and pull the paper underneath with the other hand, to create a human sanding machine. You can put as much or as little pressure as you like with your finger to control how much material you take off. And you will find you can direct the pressure with your fingertip perfectly accurately.

By this method you can take off the lump of glue but not damage the surrounding lacquer. When it is nearly flat move to finer sandpaper, and then finer. By the time you've got to P800 the surface should now be flat. Next, you polish the area gently with P1000 wet-and-dry paper, or use micromesh pads if you prefer. Then go on to P1500, P2000, P2500 and even to P3000 and above if you feel like it. Each grade of paper is reducing the scratches made by the previous one, till they are so tiny that it just looks like a slightly dull area on the finish. You may think it will save time to go straight to the finer grades of paper but it won't. Working your way steadily through the grades is the quickest and best way to do it.

Finally, you can just buff the lacquer to a mirror shine with car swirl remover, or household metal polish or even toothpaste (truly): all of those are essentially surface polishes with a very mild abrasive in them.

Presto, the job is done.

It has probably taken me longer to take, edit and upload the photos than it will for you to do the task. It ain't a biggy.

Any help? More questions, just ask.

Good luck - C


Hi again mr C
It seems that you are a true hero out there . Im so honored sir . well if every body is so found of you and your work and more importantly you yourself is that confident i willingly take the risk so lets do it ! first of all here is my lady :

http://s4.picofile.com/file/7759779244/IMG_0710.jpg

and the situation is on the top right of the pickgaurd :

http://s4.picofile.com/file/7759790749/IMG_0705.jpg

and also the bottom left of the pickguard :

http://s4.picofile.com/file/7759791391/IMG_0706.jpg

first thing first, i must get the right tools for this so i will post the tools i get and hope you pass them then we will go through this step by step . this could be a good adventure ( hope a good one ) . then maybe we'll make it a new thread . by the way , u rock man ! thank you very much.

ps : you are most wellcome if you ever decide to visit Iran . here is a beautiful country , good people , lots of fun but retarded regime .


Last edited by kaveh on Wed May 15, 2013 11:38 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Post subject: Re: How to clear lacquer finished strat
Posted: Wed May 15, 2013 7:45 am
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Dear Ceri ,

you were not around lately ( panic attack ) nonetheless i ask my question . so far i got the sandpapers from p800 to p2000 grits and planing to get some micro-mesh pads of higher numbers ( is it necessary ? ) and that leaves only the polishing material . I've read that many others use car polish/wax for the job and hope i can do the same cause there are not any other options available here in IRAN. the one thing that i found here to use for polishing is formula 1 car wax (http://www.formula1wax.com/products/pro ... ductID=13#) which is carnauba ( ? ) wax and can be used on clear coat finishes ( means containing no cleaning chems ? ) and also they are reputable in their league ( says google ) . can i use this stuff ? if the answer is yes should i get the paste wax or the liquid version ? also i have dunlop formula 65 guitar polish which IMHO is irrelevant to the topic (?) .

Rock On
kaveh


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Post subject: Re: How to clear lacquer finished strat
Posted: Thu May 16, 2013 6:35 am
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kaveh wrote:
Dear Ceri , you were not around lately ( panic attack )...

Yeah, sorry about that. Stuff to do, people to see...

But don't panic. Normal service is now resumed.
kaveh wrote:
nonetheless i ask my question . so far i got the sandpapers from p800 to p2000 grits and planing to get some micro-mesh pads of higher numbers ( is it necessary ? ) and that leaves only the polishing material . I've read that many others use car polish/wax for the job and hope i can do the same cause there are not any other options available here in IRAN. the one thing that i found here to use for polishing is formula 1 car wax (http://www.formula1wax.com/products/pro ... ductID=13#) which is carnauba ( ? ) wax and can be used on clear coat finishes ( means containing no cleaning chems ? ) and also they are reputable in their league ( says google ) . can i use this stuff ? if the answer is yes should i get the paste wax or the liquid version ? also i have dunlop formula 65 guitar polish which IMHO is irrelevant to the topic (?) .

Thanks for your excellent photos, above. That really helps.

Gotta say, your glue problem looks much less serious than we'd previously thought. The P800-2000 papers are the very thing and I'm sure you will find the glue just sands off easily, as if it were simply a blemish in the finish. By all means go on to the micromesh pads if you wish. I have some but hardly ever use them: I find moving from P2500 paper straight to the car or metal polish usually works fine. But the pads will do the job even more perfectly, if you want to go that route.

Far as your auto product is concerned; the Formula 1 bit doesn't really matter, but it looks like it has a mild "cut" in it, which means abrasive, so that should be ideal for taking the surface from P2500 or 3000 up to a mirror shine.

Then by all means polish up with Dunlop 65 and, presto, you are done.

It will likely take you less time to do it than it took me to type this - and I'm a quick typist! :)

BTW:
kaveh wrote:
ps : you are most wellcome if you ever decide to visit Iran . here is a beautiful country , good people , lots of fun but retarded regime .

Haha - thank you! It is true that your government and mine don't like each other much. But we're not going to let that bother us. I have some very nice Iranian friends here in London and I've always wanted to visit their country. I love the food and the music, and I'd really like to see Isfahan, amongst other things.

I will get there, sooner than later! :D

Cheers - C

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Post subject: Re: How to clear lacquer finished strat
Posted: Sun May 19, 2013 7:17 am
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ok sir , so im all set up . but does abrasive good or not ? i remember i read somewhere that the polish should not be abrasive ? i can find non-abrasive polishes too like this one http://www.formula1wax.com/products/pro ... oductID=35 which is better in your opinion ?

Thanks a ton for your time , i know this is somehow wasting your time .

kaveh,


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Post subject: Re: How to clear lacquer finished strat
Posted: Sun May 19, 2013 3:31 pm
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kaveh wrote:
i remember i read somewhere that the polish should not be abrasive ?

Hi again: I guess it depends if you use the micromesh pads or not. If you use micromesh up to P5000 or 6000 then you are unlikely to need a polish with abrasive in it. If you just use wet-and-dry paper up to P2000 or 2500 then a polish with a very mild cut (abrasive) will help complete the job.

I've done it both ways: my prefered method is to use wet-and-dry up to 2500 and then use an automotive swirl remover, like the Formula 1 stuff you mentioned earlier, to bring the surface up to a mirror shine. Then just some regular guitar polish to finish off - Dunlop or whatever.

But micromesh pads are excellent too. Different routes to the same destination.

Sounds like your method is fine. Your success is down to how carefully you do the job. Take your time and it will be fine.


kaveh wrote:
Thanks a ton for your time , i know this is somehow wasting your time .

No problem. It's why we're all here, after all. :)

Good luck - C

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Post subject: Re: How to clear lacquer finished strat
Posted: Mon May 20, 2013 3:04 pm
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Ceri wrote:
Hi again: I guess it depends if you use the micromesh pads or not. If you use micromesh up to P5000 or 6000 then you are unlikely to need a polish with abrasive in it. If you just use wet-and-dry paper up to P2000 or 2500 then a polish with a very mild cut (abrasive) will help complete the job.



roger that , i will do the job this week and ill post the photos here as soon as i complete the task,

you are awesome ,


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