Finish Lifted

[matthewm40]

On my nitro finished guitar I have a spot around a screw whole where there is finish lifting. And from what I have heard things like this aren't completely un-common for nitro finishes. I plan remove the lifted finish and do a drop fill. I have it all planned out but there is one thing I'm not quite sure of. How do I remove the lifted finish? Should I use paint thinner to thin it and then use an X-acto knife to cut it out? Advice please

[Ned Milburn]

I don't really see how this is fundamentally any different to the few other threads you started on the subject. Perhaps reviewing them will give you the answer you need...??

[charles Tauber]

Originally Posted by matthewm40

I have it all planned out but there is one thing I'm not quite sure of.

Ask yourself whether or not the finish has a good chance of looking worse after your repair than it does now. If it is a high-gloss finish, the answer is almost certainly yes, unless you have a lot of experience in doing these sort of repairs. If the answer is yes, don't do it.

Fixing the finish won't make the guitar sound better, play better, last longer or make you a better player.

[Frank Ford]

Originally Posted by matthewm40

On my nitro finished guitar I have a spot around a screw whole where there is finish lifting. And from what I have heard things like this aren't completely un-common for nitro finishes. I plan remove the lifted finish and do a drop fill. I have it all planned out but there is one thing I'm not quite sure of. How do I remove the lifted finish? Should I use paint thinner to thin it and then use an X-acto knife to cut it out? Advice please

Using the term, "paint thinner" gives me the impression that you're not going to find this a satisfying job. Regular paint thinner should have no effect on nitrocellulose lacquer. Now, some folks call LACQUER thinner by that name in their shops because they use "paint" as a kind of in-house slang meaning "lacquer." The solvents we typically use for lacquer include lacquer thinner, acetone, butyl acetate, MEK, cellosolve.

So, if you're not versed in the solvents and their uses, I'd suggest this job be done by someone who does it regularly.

A screw hole can be a complex surface with lots of wood fibers sticking up as well as the lacquer. Sometimes it's just the lacquer, and we can wick some cyanoacylate underneath to reattach it to the surface. Sometimes we chip off the pieces of finish and drop fill with new lacquer, level and buff to match the surrounding sheen.

This seemingly trivial job is often trickier than you might imagine, and it's not the sort of thing that lends itself to being reduced to a series of easy DIY steps because trouble can seem to come out of nowhere as you proceed.

And, without CLEAR, detailed closeup photos, it's close to meaningless to try to discuss repair methods. Even then, there's great possibility of error.

Finish repair is some of the most expensive work we do in our shop, and that's because it's the often most difficult, dangerous and time consuming.