Removing 70s /80s poly without removing any original wood

jakeolly

Hi folks
I have a guitar that has some refin from 70s/ 80s and i want to remove the poly and refin in nitro. Whats the best way to remove it . I dont want to remove any of the wood 
if its chemical stripper what is the best one/ method ?

drofluf

I used a hot air gun and scraper to take the poly off my Baja Telecaster. Was surprisingly easy, think I'd got most of it off in half an hour

jakeolly

Thats Helpful, thanks mate 

JD50

I removed the finish on a late 70s Musicmaster using Superdrugs extra strong nail varnish remover and a microfiber cloth, took a couple hours to rub it all off , that was after attacking it with a heat Gun which did sod all....  

SteveRobinson

JD50 said:

I removed the finish on a late 70s Musicmaster using Superdrugs extra strong nail varnish remover and a microfiber cloth, took a couple hours to rub it all off , that was after attacking it with a heat Gun which did sod all....  

You'll have been left with the sealer coat then, or was it a refinish? 

JD50

SteveRobinson said:

JD50 said:

I removed the finish on a late 70s Musicmaster using Superdrugs extra strong nail varnish remover and a microfiber cloth, took a couple hours to rub it all off , that was after attacking it with a heat Gun which did sod all....  

You'll have been left with the sealer coat then, or was it a refinish? 

Correct, still have sealer coat

GoldenEraGuitars

SteveRobinson said:

JD50 said:

I removed the finish on a late 70s Musicmaster using Superdrugs extra strong nail varnish remover and a microfiber cloth, took a couple hours to rub it all off , that was after attacking it with a heat Gun which did sod all....  

You'll have been left with the sealer coat then, or was it a refinish? 

The sealer coat is where the fun starts

ALR

I refinished a 1997 Squier YN Series Strat last year and had to remove all the poly. As described above, I removed the majority of it with a heat gun, but eventually used a Random Orbital Sander and some sandpaper up to (I think) 320 grit to get every last trace of the old finish off (except for cavities). It's a little more work but I think the results are worth it.

There's a 3 part Stewmac series about refinishing with aerosols which I followed pretty much to the letter. It took a long time and was a lot of work, but the results were definitely worth it!

JD50

GoldenEraGuitars said:

SteveRobinson said:

JD50 said:

I removed the finish on a late 70s Musicmaster using Superdrugs extra strong nail varnish remover and a microfiber cloth, took a couple hours to rub it all off , that was after attacking it with a heat Gun which did sod all....  

You'll have been left with the sealer coat then, or was it a refinish? 

The sealer coat is where the fun starts

The sealer coat is clear, so guess you can spray over the top