21Fretter
I picked up a guitar of which the previous previous owner decided to paint the fretboard. Since i think the paint job is silly and I've been keen to try get a guitar building/finishing project going i thought i would sand the fretboard back to it's natural wood as a start. Obviously removing the neck would make this process significantly easier, is it generally suggested to not leave a neck unattached to a guitar for a while (nothing to counteract the truss rod), what's a safe time period to leave it unattached if it isn't the best idea, or does it not really matter?
Shot guys!
P.S. Might as well add this in instead of creating another thread. I believe the fretboard is rosewood (not 100% since i can't see it :-\) and I've looked around on the internet and it seems I won't need to seal rosewood. Just sand and sand and sand, going higher and higher with the grits ending at like 1600. Is this correct or should i still be looking to seal it with tung oil or something?
AlanRatcliffe
Depends on if you remove the frets or not. You can't do any damage with the truss itself by leaving it tensioned, but it will affect the curvature of the neck when the strings are removed, and that affects any board/fret work.
If you're going to remove the frets and sand the board, then slacking off the truss rod completely is mandatory - otherwise it will cause a hump in the middle of the neck, which you will end up sanding out. That will translate to too much relief when back under string tension. Anyway, the refret will likely cause a change in compression, meaning a different truss setting when refretted. If you go this route, don't forget to add a little fall-away.
If you just want to clean off the paint (and don't understand terms like "compression", "relief" and "fall-away"), then leave the frets and simply take a scraper blade to the board. This not only cleans the board, but leaves a pretty smooth surface that doesn't require any more work. It also means you don't have to worry about getting the fingerboard radius perfect (which you do if you refret). Leaving the frets intact, you don't have to worry about the effect of the truss rod, even if the strings are off for days - simply allow 24 hours for the neck to settle again once the strings are on and back to pitch before tweaking the truss rod.
Rosewood is best without any sealer, as it must absorb any (non-drying) oils applied.
21Fretter
Thanks Alan. Ja, I wasn't intending to remove the frets just yet, was thinking about possibly doing it in the future as to learn refretting but not yet.
Someone on ultimate-guitar suggest i would have to go the chemical route. To me, it doesn't look like just scraping it would work because it's sealed so i don't know if i'm going to just be able to just "break" the pieces off.
AlanRatcliffe
Scraping works on any finish and especially well on fingerboards or anywhere where you want to keep an edge intact (like the paint on the sides of the neck).
Just sayin' is all...
Gearhead
Alan is right, 21fretter. The only reason for not relying only on scraping is if the finish color has been applied directly onto the wood, which you will only know after scraping anyway. Chemicals only soften a finish and the method still involves scraping anyway. Has the dude on Ultimate Guitar actually done a job like this?
21Fretter
Edit: Double post, soz
21Fretter
Don't worry guys, I respect Alan's opinion very highly ? Just seeing what every option is/just trying to learn as much as possible.
@Alan: when you refer to scraping, do you mean scraping + a chemical to soften it? Like I'm a super noob so if scraping by default means including a chemical like I'm not going to realize that and literally will just take a scraper and stab at the guitar ?
I gave the neck a good look over and I'm seeing that the paint on the sides is actually a bit battered. It looks like some has very terrible hand control with a blade and there are like cuts in the paint so I'm thinking of getting rid of that as well. Does that change anything option wise?
AlanRatcliffe
No, just scraping with a blade, holding the blade with the edge near perpendicular to the surface. Gives you a nice smooth finish (unlike sandpaper) and levels at the same time. Some woodworkers scrape exclusively rather than sanding.
You get purpose made scrapers and you also get holders for regular blades. On a board I often use a regular Stanley knife blade.
Ah... just remembered this was covered recently in Stewmac's newsletter:
http://www.stewmac.com/tradesecrets/promo/ts0050_scrapers
21Fretter
Thanks for the help ALan. Definitely helped me get in the right direction for when i get this started. I've decided I also want to redo the body paint job so don't worry, there will be plenty more questions coming your way ? I've done a body before by hand sanding and it wasn't that much a mission but since I need to get the blade for the fret board anyway, might as well give the scraping method a go for the body as well ?
How do you hold the stanley knife blade? Just glove up or do you have one of the blade holders like you mentioned?
AlanRatcliffe
A bigger, proper scraper works better for a body than a blade - the larger surface area helps you keep things level. If I use a small blade, I just put a little gaffer tape on to make it easier to grip.
21Fretter
And that brings this topic to an end. Should be everything i need to know ? Thanks!
