Members hazard29 Posted September 13, 2010 Members Share Posted September 13, 2010 Maybe someone can help me out here. I am trying to remove some super glue that I accidentally got onto my guitar. The body is a Poly coat. I have tried acetone, rubbing alcohol, nail polish remover, Napthae - I cannot get this stuff to budge. Does anyone have any ideas short of taking sandpaper and ruining the finish to get this stuff off? Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members SDshirtman Posted September 13, 2010 Members Share Posted September 13, 2010 Acetone didnt remove it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members hazard29 Posted September 13, 2010 Author Members Share Posted September 13, 2010 I tried acetone from nail polish remover and it didn't even budge it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members meandi Posted September 13, 2010 Members Share Posted September 13, 2010 The super glue remover that I have has nitromethane in it.Doesn't affect poly finishes, but nitro dissolves in it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mrbrown49 Posted September 13, 2010 Members Share Posted September 13, 2010 Once it's set its pretty hard to disolve off with a solvent, even using the stuff labeled as Superglue remover. That stuff is right next to the superglue in most craft stores. You could try it. Sometimes it softens it enough where you can flake it off, but you have to let it sit for a while, and don't expect any miracles. Your best bet is to sand it off. Use a small sanding block so you don't mess up the flatness of your finish. If you do it right the sandpaper will only hit the high spots until you bring down level with the finish. Then polish it up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members RaVenCAD Posted September 13, 2010 Members Share Posted September 13, 2010 I disagree.. If you can't remove it chemically, I'd say the best bet is just to leave it alone cuz anything you do to it physically is going to mess up the surrounding finish. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mrbrown49 Posted September 13, 2010 Members Share Posted September 13, 2010 I disagree.. If you can't remove it chemically, I'd say the best bet is just to leave it alone cuz anything you do to it physically is going to mess up the surrounding finish. You could be right depending on how bad the mess is. I have quite a bit of experience repairing poly finishes with CA so I can get it too look really nice without effecting the surrounding finish. Takes some practice but it can be done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members hazard29 Posted September 13, 2010 Author Members Share Posted September 13, 2010 someone just told me to put a brown bag over the spot and then put a heated iron on top to pull up the glue and make it stick to the bag. Any ideas if this would work and not ruin the poly? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members harold heckuba Posted September 13, 2010 Members Share Posted September 13, 2010 someone just told me to put a brown bag over the spot and then put a heated iron on top to pull up the glue and make it stick to the bag. Any ideas if this would work and not ruin the poly? Might work, but might make a gooey mess all over your guitar. Acetone will work, I think you either A) have bought the kind of nail polish which contains a water/acetone mix (you need petty much straight acetone) or B) are just wiping it on and off. It will need to sit on the superlue for several minutes and order to soften and remove it. I would wet a paper towel with acetone and keep dabbing it on every few seconds. Do this for several minutes and it will come off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members BoneNut Posted September 13, 2010 Members Share Posted September 13, 2010 Acetone works by dissolving the super glue but all you want is for it to break its bond with the poly finish. Use WD40 or other high penetration oil. That will usually make it easy to just pick it off the surface with your finger nail. Don't cover your guitar in oil. All you want is for a little of it to seep under the super glue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mike42 Posted September 13, 2010 Members Share Posted September 13, 2010 I think BoneNut's on the right track. If the poly finish is pretty high gloss, even most super glue won't stick too well. Hadn't thought of the WD-40, but it sounds like a good idea. If you give it a few days or a week it might just pop off anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members thick_mike Posted September 13, 2010 Members Share Posted September 13, 2010 Yet again, Frets.com has the answer... Razor scraping I've used this technique to do something similar. It's important to make sure that the only exposed blade is where you need to cut. Tape the rest of the blade to make sure you don't damage the finish on your guitar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mrbrown49 Posted September 13, 2010 Members Share Posted September 13, 2010 Yet again, Frets.com has the answer... Razor scraping I've used this technique to do something similar. It's important to make sure that the only exposed blade is where you need to cut. Tape the rest of the blade to make sure you don't damage the finish on your guitar. Nice! The tape tip is great. I'm gonna have to try that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members harold heckuba Posted September 13, 2010 Members Share Posted September 13, 2010 The razor will work great, as I do it myself all the time. However, it may not be feasible for the OP as it takes a lot of practice scraping to get it right. I scuffed up several finishes before I got proficient at it. Even Dan Erlewine recommends a lot of practice at it. You cant really mess up the acetone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members rog951 Posted September 13, 2010 Members Share Posted September 13, 2010 I'd probably just sand it off with very fine sandpaper. What kind of guitar is it? I know for a fact that Fender's poly finishes are friggin' thick! I bought a MIJ Jazz Bass onto which someone had brush-painted a big yin/yang symbol. I was hesitant, but my buddy (who was fairly knowledgeable about finishing guitars) talked me into just carefully sanding it away and then buffing it out. Looks brand new now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Belva Posted September 13, 2010 Members Share Posted September 13, 2010 Contrary to popular belief poly finishes can be polished back up after removing the super glue. I haven't tried any of the removal methods but the WD40 trick seems like it's worth a try. If you use the razor blade method you'll probably leave a few scratches. Get some rubbing compound and some polishing compound to shine it back up. Also get two Mother's Power Balls (shouldn't that be Father's?). One for each cutting compound Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members headless Posted September 13, 2010 Members Share Posted September 13, 2010 Contrary to popular belief poly finishes can be polished back up after removing the super glue. I haven't tried any of the removal methods but the WD40 trick seems like it's worth a try. If you use the razor blade method you'll probably leave a few scratches. Get some rubbing compound and some polishing compound to shine it back up. Also get two Mother's Power Balls (shouldn't that be Father's?). One for each cutting compound A bit of a thread-jack, but has anyone had any success getting a half-way decent polished finish on poly---by hand? Say I didn't have a decent hand-drill on which to run those Mothers Power balls, but I wanted to fine-sand and polish-out some scratches in poly. I've tried doing it buy hand, but the results weren't very good. It poly just too hard, and requires a motor-tool (or a decade) ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members flummox Posted September 14, 2010 Members Share Posted September 14, 2010 A bit of a thread-jack, but has anyone had any success getting a half-way decent polished finish on poly---by hand?Say I didn't have a decent hand-drill on which to run those Mothers Power balls, but I wanted to fine-sand and polish-out some scratches in poly. I've tried doing it buy hand, but the results weren't very good.It poly just too hard, and requires a motor-tool (or a decade) ? You can do it, but it's difficult even with power tools. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members BoneNut Posted September 14, 2010 Members Share Posted September 14, 2010 A bit of a thread-jack, but has anyone had any success getting a half-way decent polished finish on poly---by hand? Say I didn't have a decent hand-drill on which to run those Mothers Power balls, but I wanted to fine-sand and polish-out some scratches in poly. I've tried doing it buy hand, but the results weren't very good. It poly just too hard, and requires a motor-tool (or a decade) ? You can do it perfectly by hand. The secret isn't in the polishing, it's in the sanding. For a surface to shine, it has to be perfectly smooth. I usually start by wet sanding with 2000 grit. When done, the surface will be perfectly flat. It will be hazy due to the small scratches the sandpaper leaves behind but there should be no dips, craters or pimples on the finish... perfectly smooooooth! So how do you get rid of the scratches and haze left by the 2000 grit sandpaper? You sand it with 3200 grit, then 4000, then 6000, then 8000 and finally 12000. Make sure to rinse out your water bowl and use fresh water every time you change grits. Adding a couple of drops of liquid soap helps everything along. Work in small areas and don't use too much water. It's just used as a lubricant for the sand paper... not to wash the guitar! You can get those sandpapers from Micro Mark and a lot of the on-line hobby stores. I like the Micro Mesh brand the best. Once you're finished sanding, use Novus #2 polish (available at the same places as the sandpaper) with cotton to get the final shine. If you've done it right, the finish will be frickin perfect. It almost looks liquid. There are many ways you can polish up a finish and everyone has their favorite but if you want to do it right... go with the sandpaper and put in the hard work. For me, the results are well worth the effort. You'll end up with a finish you'd think you could reach your arm into! Here's a photo of a Sheraton I did a long while back and it shows off the liquid shine. I did one more recently but my photo files are SNAFU. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members hazard29 Posted September 14, 2010 Author Members Share Posted September 14, 2010 Ok - thanks first of all to everyone who has tried to help. I went out and got some new acetone and I was able to get the glue off. Now, I have a 2nd problem. There is a spot on the clearcoat where the glue was, kinda like a line of where the glue was on the clearcoat. The poly is smooth so I know the glue is gone, but now just a spot remains of where it was. Is there anything I could use to help polish out this spot so that it blends in better? Any particular products or ideas? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jack harper Posted September 14, 2010 Members Share Posted September 14, 2010 Just cover the rest of the body in super glue. That way no one will have any idea AND you'll never need to buy a case for guitar. PS you want to be careful to not super glue your pots, pups, tuners, and strings. Some people would just assume to super glue EVERYTHING but you need those parts to be movable. PPS you can super glue your truss rod because truss rods are useless anyways.:poke: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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