How to Strip a Poly Neck, Maple Fretboard

[strat_tone]

Do anyone have a guide or link to stripping a maple neck? I was going to sand the neck, but what about the fretboard and headstock? I feel a heat gun could damage the frets and neck. Just use a square sanding tool? I would probably be stripping a factory finish neck.

Thanks

[Colt W. Knight]

NO! Don't try to sand the finish, and a heat gun is a horrible idea on a neck.

You'll want to use a good chemical stripper. Between the frets, use a sharp razor or knife blade to scrape, not sand.

[Rhomco Guitars]

Originally Posted by Colt W. Knight

NO! Don't try to sand the finish, and a heat gun is a horrible idea on a neck.

You'll want to use a good chemical stripper. Between the frets, use a sharp razor or knife blade to scrape, not sand.

Chemical availabe to the man on the street and never (never) found one that will strip the Polyester Sealer that is used under the Polyurethane top coat. This includes Aircraft Stripper from the auto stores and the over hyped Citrus Strip as well as evrything Home Depot/Lowes sells. I firmly believe that nothing short of 60/80 grit sandpaper will get you to the wood. Many claim to have success with chemical strippers but I will wager they did not try to stain over the stripped finishes.
Rob

[scojan]

Be careful if your fret marker dots are plastic, some chemical strippers will melt these, don't ask how I know

[Colt W. Knight]

Originally Posted by Rhomco Guitars

Chemical availabe to the man on the street and never (never) found one that will strip the Polyester Sealer that is used under the Polyurethane top coat. This includes Aircraft Stripper from the auto stores and the over hyped Citrus Strip as well as evrything Home Depot/Lowes sells. I firmly believe that nothing short of 60/80 grit sandpaper will get you to the wood. Many claim to have success with chemical strippers but I will wager they did not try to stain over the stripped finishes.
Rob

This is why I make my stuff from scrap, I hate refinishing.

[Colt W. Knight]

Originally Posted by Rhomco Guitars

Chemical availabe to the man on the street and never (never) found one that will strip the Polyester Sealer that is used under the Polyurethane top coat. This includes Aircraft Stripper from the auto stores and the over hyped Citrus Strip as well as evrything Home Depot/Lowes sells. I firmly believe that nothing short of 60/80 grit sandpaper will get you to the wood. Many claim to have success with chemical strippers but I will wager they did not try to stain over the stripped finishes.
Rob

This is why I make my stuff from scratch, I hate refinishing.

[mrench01]

I have a detailed write up of how I strip poly off of Fender Maple necks in my 59 Tele build. With the right stuff it's not hard and only takes about an hour. The fret markers do get a little soft, but once the stripper is neutralized you can easily scrap and sand any distortions. Here it is.

http://www.tdpri.com/forum/tele-home...-mrench01.html

Enjoy. Be warned, there are a ton of photos!

Mike R

[tonybvw528]

Hi, Tony B. here. I am joining this almost a year later but wanted to just put my own experience in. IO bought a rosewood fret board Rondo Music Douglas Tele copy and dd a bunch of upgrades. Anyway, I had re-cut the head stock to match tele which now required snading, stripping this neck. I believe the one gentleman right that whatever sealer they use if any under that poly goes deep like all hell. I chemical stripped this thing three times as well as used my Ryobi orbital sander in not only the re-shaping, but with 100 grit sandpaper,, I was SURE I was at bare wood. the Minwax age old formula stain still had a huge difficulty penetrating that neck. It did finally take, but I needed a little more age and applied a extremely blackish stain from Minwax called jacobean that nicely brought out the deeper grains in the neck. Finished with very thin coats of clear shellac. this all would have been a way easier deal had that neck stripped way easier. There has got to be a better solution to get back to real wood without resorting to removing so much with 80 grit.