Stripping shellac

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rocket
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Stripping shellac

Post by rocket » Thu Dec 09, 2010 9:00 pm

Hi all,, I want to strip the finish off a guitar and re laquer in nitro or maybe Ubeaut hard shellac with the cross linking additive,
At the moment it is finished in de waxed blonde shellac that has crazed all over the belly, i was wondering what the best method of stripping it back would be, paint stripper? or just plain old elbow grease, any advise would be apreciated.
Cheers,,, Rod. :? :? :?
Like I said before the crash, " Hit the bloody thing, it won't hit ya back

www.octiganguitars.com

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Mike Thomas
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Re: Stripping shellac

Post by Mike Thomas » Thu Dec 09, 2010 9:43 pm

The first thing I'd try would be meths + a little elbow grease.
Last edited by Mike Thomas on Thu Dec 09, 2010 10:06 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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kiwigeo
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Re: Stripping shellac

Post by kiwigeo » Thu Dec 09, 2010 9:56 pm

Ive stripped countless FP jobs back to bare wood. My weapon of choice is a cabinet scraper followed by garnet paper. The garnet paper clogs rapidly so you need a plentiful supply on hand.

If using meths then be careful near bindings as there is a risk of darker wood bleeding onto a spruce top.
Martin

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Mike Thomas
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Re: Stripping shellac

Post by Mike Thomas » Thu Dec 09, 2010 10:27 pm

Good point Martin.
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peter.coombe
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Re: Stripping shellac

Post by peter.coombe » Fri Dec 10, 2010 9:38 am

I concur, cabinet scraper followed by sanding and elbow grease. Done that many a time. Yep, it clogs rapidly so make sure you have plenty of garnet paper. Metho is of limited use if you want to strip it completely.
Peter Coombe - mandolin, mandola and guitar maker
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