What is this? Acrylic?

[Ryan78]

I have a beat up Fender CD-60 in all black my brother in law gave me to tinker with, practice refinishes etc. So looking around I saw that they're laminated spruce tops and mahogany sides and back and/or nato. I figured I'd like to get rid of all the horrible black paint that came with it.

So I strip the paint and sure enough I see light wood top and dark sides and back. There was an UNBELIEVABLE amount (thickness wise) of paint and clear. So the crazy thing is, the "binding" around the top and sound hole are inbedded in what looks to be about a 1/6" of acrylic? It's literally that much if not more. Enough that I'm concerned that the only "wood" this guitar body consists of is a thin venier with acrylic (or whatever it is) stacked over it. Looking through the sound hole you see bare real wood.

I have trouble posting pictures so I'm hoping someone already knows about this or what it is.
Thanks a ton!

[Ryan78]

Also, if it matters, when I sand it it is a light grey dust with a talcum consistency, and a vaguely plastic-y smell.

[John Arnold]

Catalyzed polyester. It is very common on Asian instruments.

[Ryan78]

Ugh... like my pants in grade school? Awesome. Thanks

[ADK]

I'm refinishing an all-lam Chinese guitar that had some body damage. My experience when sanding was the same as yours: lots of gray plastic stuff. I hoped to stain it, but the wood is a mess. So I'm just painting it a forest green. It's coming out pretty nice actually.