Removing varnish from the neck?

[mandoman4807]

I am in the process of removing all of the varnish from my mando`s neck. What can be used to get right up to the binding, with out any damage to that area? I have masked the binding off, but reluctant to sand too close, in fear of sanding right through the tape.

Thanks all,

Darrell

[krishna]

Darrel,if you have really thought this out, and it's what you want to do, then you can(I feel 4 or 5 luthiers looking over my shoulder waiting to pounce...)use some maybe 400 grade sandpaper to take it off.Before you start though,have a REALLY GOOD IDEA were you want to start and finish! You could (if you want it to look like the back of a violin neck) tape off were you want. Otherwise you could just kind of blend it in at the headstock, and at the heal...It needs to be at least sealed with something also...Man,I hope everyone does'nt jump down my throat on this one. By the way, I have done this process to about 10 strats(all friends axes)and also to ....ummmm ...(secret)...all my mandolins...I LOVE the feel of wood on my thumb...Kerry PS I would'nt worry about sanding over the binding UNLESS you want to keep it the color it is.I usually dont bother to put it on for this process.

[Luthier Vandross]

If the finish is varnish, use #0000 steel wool, dampened with plain old alcohol, and

DON'T GET ALCOHOL ON ANYPLACE YOU WANT FINISH!

NOT EVEN A LITTLE BIT! heh

Allow it to rest for a few hours, then buff the neck with dry #0000 steel wool, and stay off of the binding... don't bear down on binding with anything abrasive, you'll start shaping it, and that you wouldn't like to look at.

One of the real pluses to dealing with varnish is that it solves with alcohol.

One of the real negatives of dealing with varnish is that it solves with alcohol.

You can actually just steel wool the finish on the neck, and get almost the same feel, and just touch that up every couple months, plus retain finish.. a win/win.

I like nekid guitar neck too. http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif

M

[ShaneJ]

I did one a few weeks ago and used 320, 400, 600, & 800 grit sandpaper with SMALL amounts of water to raise the grain once I got down to the wood. I stuck with the 320 until the finish was gone. BTW, I sanded the varnish off of the binding too. I didn't want to have a nice smooth neck with two strips of "sticky" on the sides. I used blue painter's tape to cover everything I didn't want to touch. Use 2 or 3 layers and you won't sand through (if you're careful). Then I put 4 coats of tung oil on the bare wood, sanding with 800 lightly between each coat. After the last coat, I polished it with a cotton rag, and it came out pretty nice.