Buffing the finish?

[banjer23]

My mando top,,has lotsa small scratches from ten years of use,,should I try to buff them out,,or just let the distressed look take its course.

[Stephanie Reiser]

Depending ont the depth of the scratches, and the type of finish, you may be able to buff them out. I don't know what you have for a buffing wheel, but if it is one of those Home D. drill mounted ones, be careful. Also, I use car wax for a buffing compound, two different grits. Stew-Mac had instrument buffing compound, but I've never tried theirs.

[jim_n_virginia]

I once let a friend who just got a pedestal buffer in his shop buff mine up on it trying it out and it worked fantastic my mandolin looked like a mirror. It didn't get out any deep scratched but it buffed out all the finish scatches.

And yeah I have heard a few horror stories concerning the drill attachments. Probably one of those two handled car buffers on low speed would be better because it has a bigger buff pad.

But I like the pedestal buffer better. I think it works better because the buffer is stable and you move the instrument and with the others it is the opposite.

I don't buff mine out very much but when I do I find it just as easier to put a little elbow grease into it. From the Cafe I learned to get Maguire products and they work great!

[Bill Snyder]

If you buff it out yourself and use a power buffer be VERY careful around the sound holes. The buffer can grab the edge and send your instrument flying or otherwise grab and damage the top.

[Chuck Naill]

GHS Guitar Polish works very well on nitrocellulose lacquer finishes for removing small shallow scratches like fingernail brushes. I have use this on my guitars and mandolin. Mac-Quires (sp) have a better product that I have seen used on blemishes like were the bridge has made indentions in the finish

[Lefty Luthier]

For buffing both new and old mandolins, I use a pad made from layers of an old bed sheet clamped with stiff leather washers in my drill press. I have found that most any mild abrasive works fine but my favorite is Turtle Auto Polish. One added benefit of using dozens of layers of cotton sheet is that the edges become very ragged and are not apt to grab in the F-Holes or the edge of binding.

[Gail Hester]

There are lots of products that you can use with a soft cloth to buff out minor scratches. I like Meguiar's swirl remover as well as many of their other finish products because they do not contain silicone. Many of the Turtle products do have silicone and you don’t want silicone anywhere around a varnish or lacquer finished instrument. I recommend you check the ingredients and not use a product with silicone.

[buddyellis]

I found a little hook and loop pad (I think I got it at Lowes) to go on my random orbital sander that I use with Meguires #10 (or the second step of the three part 'crystal' car polish system, its the same product) Takes slightly longer than with the pedestal buffer, but I feel it's a heck of alot safer around the f-holes, and it works well enough to do most of the instrument, and the setup for this is much more obtainable than a pedestal buffer for someone who doesn't have the gear.

[mandozilla]

If you buff it out yourself and use a power buffer be VERY careful around the sound holes. The buffer can grab the edge and send your instrument flying or otherwise grab and damage the top.

but I feel it's a heck of alot safer around the f-holes,

Bill and Buddy, your comments conjure up some frightening images of flying mandolins and post fireplace poker soundboards in my mind...I think I'll just let my mando be dull and grubby thank you!

[Bill Snyder]

I have the same kind of pad Buddy mentions for use on a random orbital sander and I have used it. I have also buffed them out by hand with good results, maybe not quite up to the same level of sheen as a pedestal buffer but still pretty good.

[papawhisky]

Not sure of the type of finishes we are talking about. Are we using Meguires or other car wax on varnish finishes?

[Sam Albright]

I have one of those smaller power buffers and use it for the back and maybe sides, but go back to a small cloth folded up and elbow grease. 3M products from NAPA auto parts. No silicone, and haven't had any problems refinishing. I just repaired an old Harmony Monterey mando with a broken headstock and lots of cracking and bad digs everywhere. Touched up the bare wood and sprayed a couple coats of nitro. Gently sanded and buffed it out (by hand) in just a few days. The nitro shrank back around the cracks and it looks old and great and lots better than it did. Strung it up yesterday and man it's pretty great. May have a hard time giving it back to the guy. What do you pros do with an instrument like that. It was just going to be thrown out and now it's pretty cool. How important is it to keep an instrument like that intact, or should I just get it playable and fix it up the best I can and call it good. (kind of off the thread of buffing, sorry)

[Gail Hester]

Meguiar's swirl remover is not wax. I don't use wax and BTW, no power tools are needed here. You guys are scaring me.

[300win]

Only thing I do is use Old English spray furniture polish, of course this just gets rid of the dirt and shines it, not take scratches out. Any mandolin I play is going to have scratches due to the way I pick, my fingers lightly brush against the top when I'm picking lead, and I've played way to long to change or use a pickguard. But the small scratches have never bothered me on a instrument, but everybody is differant in what they like.

[Chuck Naill]

Meguiar's swirl remover is not wax. I don't use wax and BTW, no power tools are needed here. You guys are scaring me.

I was thinking the same thing, Gail. This is delicate work, no hand tools needed. That's over kill and scary as you mention. John Arnold has shown me how to used the Meguiar's product and we never used anything but a clean cotton cloth. He does use a very fine grit wet-able sand paper on nitro, but sparingly.

chuck

[Bill Snyder]

Scary or not many people buff instruments with one of these.

Dan Erlwine shows using this.

[Michael Lewis]

To get rid of the scratches you need to fine sand them until they are gone.

Most polishes have an abrasive to bring the gloss up, and by doing this you are removing some of the finish.

Most important, your instrument was new at one time, and that time is not now. They are only new once. I would be kind to it and play it. If you gently wipe it down each time you put it away it will eventually get a luster and patina that will be the envy of others. This may take a couple years but I think it will make a much better appearance than a high gloss just freshly rubbed out finish.

[mando-tech]

My mando top,,has lotsa small scratches from ten years of use,,should I try to buff them out,,or just let the distressed look take its course.

I buff a lot, but primarily to remove excess lacquer instead of scratches !...you see, the company usually sprays on much more lacquer than needed, and IMO this serves to impede the sound vibes, so the more you can get off-the more volume ! That is what we really want in an instrument anyway is volume ! So, it can be quite a long drown-out process because I use only a cloth, automotive buffer with little or no compound.

[Roger Moss]

I buff a lot, but primarily to remove excess lacquer instead of scratches !...you see, the company usually sprays on much more lacquer than needed, and IMO this serves to impede the sound vibes, so the more you can get off-the more volume ! That is what we really want in an instrument anyway is volume ! So, it can be quite a long drown-out process because I use only a cloth, automotive buffer with little or no compound.

You should try to pull the polyester finish off a low end instrument. You would have trouble doing that with a grinding wheel. I have what should be a nice little solid wood mandolin that is fatally flawed by a layer of thick plastic that makes it shine like the sun, but retards the resonance so much that it will never be what it could be. Your task is easy by comparison.

Congratulations, by the way, on resurrecting a nine year dead thread.

[Mark Gunter]

I buff a lot, but primarily to remove excess lacquer instead of scratches !...you see, the company usually sprays on much more lacquer than needed, and IMO this serves to impede the sound vibes, so the more you can get off-the more volume ! That is what we really want in an instrument anyway is volume ! So, it can be quite a long drown-out process because I use only a cloth, automotive buffer with little or no compound.

It would be interesting to know what "cloth, automotive buffer" you're using. There is more than one way to buff out an automobile. I began finishing cars, trucks, vans and motorcycles for a living when I was 18, and after some time I'd found what I consider the best buffing pad, the 3M SuperBuff wool pad for machine buffing. 32 years ago, I switched to wood finishing exclusively, and continued using those pads on conference tables and dining tables and such, along with my favorite compound, but I also do plenty of buffing by hand using cotton rags with my favorite buffing compound. I buff out guitars and mandolins frequently by hand.

If I were to machine buff a musical instrument, I'd clamp a variable speed buffer (or side grinder) into a vise with a top quality wool pad installed, and use it like a mounted buffing wheel. But those instruments (guitar, mandolin) are so small, and I do so few of them, that buffing by hand is not a problem.

I've never used McGuire's to my knowledge or recollection, but I've used a number of multiple-step compounds by various companies, for one reason or another, through the years. In fact, that's the type of product I learned with at age 18. But it only took a year or two to discover 3M Finesse-It II buffing compound, and I still love it for ease of use and quality of results.

I've mentioned two excellent 3M products now, so I need to state that I have no financial interest in the Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing company, I just happen to believe they make the best buffing wheel, buffing compound and masking tape on the market that I've been able to find to date.

Congratulations, by the way, on resurrecting a nine year dead thread.

This too

[Mark Gunter]

BTW, just in case anyone is interested in researching this Finesse-it II compound, I noticed that 3M offers numerous different products under the Finesse-it II label these days. So for clarity, what I use is called "Finishing Material" and it's sold as an automotive buffing compound. Contains no silicone or wax.