Removing varnish

[fidlinbob]

I would like to remove the varnish from the neck of my Eastman 815...it is starting by itself. Any tips on how to do it would be appreciated.

[buddyellis]

Mask off the ends with masking tape, and use 220 grit sand paper, or so, and finish it with 400. Take it slow, rub it down with a bit of tung oil after you've got bare wood looking like you want (just one coat or so to keep the grunge out of it) and let it sit in mild sunlight for an afternoon to help speed up curing.

[fidlinbob]

Thank you Buddy...

[Rick Lindstrom]

This topic is one that comes up on a very regular basis, and I always find myself wondering why everyone does it the hard way with various types of abrasives.

I worked as a string repair guy in a local shop for a long time (I have credentials is what I'm saying), and whenever someone wanted the varnish removed from a fiddle neck, I always used a new single edge razor blade as a scraper to take it off. It's about 5 minutes work, and it's very simple to get down to the bare wood with out removing any significant amount of it (the wood). Maple responds extremely well to this procedure, and I usually didn't have to smooth the wood at all. Wipe on some boiled linseed oil, hit it with 0000 the next day and you're good to go.

I seem to remember reading somewhere that violin makers routinely varnish the entire neck and then scrape the finish off after the polishing procedure. A mandolin isn't a fiddle, but it's pretty close, especially when you're talking about this particular topic. The ones I was doing this procedure to were typically student models that had varnished necks.

Rick

[Stephen Perry]

A reasonable process:

1. Scrape finish down
2. Sand lightly (220 works) to feather the remaining varnish
3. Continue sanding down to about 600 grit. Or finer if you'd like to polish the neck
4. Stain (we use amber aniline in alcohol. Carefully)
5. Repolish
6. Mineral oil in a green kitchen pad to buff up.

Folks that tend to have the grain raise or have corrosive skin I'll go ahead and do a very light French polish over the neck.

[jk245]

To simply remove the varnish without sanding, does anyone use a citrus based solvent like Orange-Sol?

[Stephen Perry]

I worry about any solvent getting into the wood. Mechanical means have always been my choice for limited removal. Stripping a whole instrument, well, that's different. We've used alcohol to wipe down spirit finished instruments and I suppose that would do fine on everything under the nitro on an Eastman mandolin.

[fidlinbob]

Well last night I scraped the rough varnish with a razor blade as I thought I would have more control. Took it down to wood and then sanded with 400 paper. It feels good.
Now I'm going to fine tune the blend of wood and finish.

What if I don't put any finish on it at this point? And, thanks to all who have offered advice. I appreciate Mr. Perry's comments as he sold and set this very nice mando about two years ago.

[Rick Lindstrom]

The boiled linseed oil (if it can still be found) has the advantage of sealing the wood and keeping it from getting grungy from skin contact. I personally also like the way it makes the neck look. I don't think mineral oil will do that because it doesn't polymerize in contact with oxygen (air) as does the boiled linseed oil, which could be considered as a type of varnish.

Rick

[buddyellis]

Rick:
Mainly I don't suggest scraping for most people because paper is much easier to control for someone doing it for the first time.

fidlinbob:

You can leave it bare, if you wish (violins are quite often done that way, or with a little mineral oil as per Steve), I usually put a minor coat of real tung oil (I prefer it to linseed, as it drys less 'sticky' generally to my touch) just to keep hand grunge out of the wood.

That said, if you raise the grain a few times, and sand back to 4-600 paper, and then use mineral oil and work down to 2000 grit wet/dry paper (autozone, etc should have it) 'wet sanding' with the oil, you'll have a nice, slick neck that is pretty well impervious to grunge, too.

[Rick Lindstrom]

[quote=buddyellis,Feb. 18 2008, 11:14]Rick:
Mainly I don't suggest scraping for most people because paper is much easier to control for someone doing it for the first time.


Point well taken.

I still like the linseed oil- I'm an old-timer http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif

Rick