removing the cap

hey chumps
any thoughts as to how I can remove the "cap" on this Indian sunn mustang body I sanded down today?
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my first thought was a thickness sander as I think I only need a tad less than 1mm, but finding one proves difficult and a tool hire place wants £70+ per day...too expensive for this low cost body.

I would ideally like to reveal the odd looking wood beneath as in the contours you can see it has bits of black in the grain.

Any old cheap palm sander will do that in half an hour.

Front and back.

Ask sarcaster he's an expert.

it is the mustang, not my good one with the new trus, but one i bought already "reliced"
i took off the paint with a palm sander, half hour each side, i just didnt fancy trying it with the cap, thought it would take considerably longer.

how do you like your mustang?

Westbone wrote:Any old cheap palm sander will do that in half an hour.

Front and back.

Ask sarcaster he's an expert.

Sand sand sand

so, sand it is.
cheers

any ideas as to what the wood underneath is?

Um, malignant?

Barry wrote:Um, malignant?

"Barry
Hero, Legend, and all round pessimist"

Not sure what kind of wood, but are you going to paint it? If so, I'd leave the veneer and just do the finish sanding before painting.

ideally I want to have it naked, but if the wood under the top is poor looking, then paint it is.

Sgt. Vimes wrote:how do you like your mustang?

Didn't, sold it on. They're basicly a Hondo H76 strat copy.

Similar yes, though the sunn has a far better neck and way way better pickups

Sgt. Vimes wrote:"Barry
Hero, Legend, and all round pessimist"

Not at all.
A little ointment should clear that right up.

barry do you think it might be a mold of some sort?

(Just goofin' about the ointment)
Hard to say.
The tree may have been in contact with water at some point. Flood??
If there was mold originally I doubt there is anything left but discoloration. Bleach may lighten it if you're so inclined. No guarantee though.

Swamp ash, with some of the swamp still attached.

i have no intention of lightening it, i like the look tbh, Im just hoping it doesnt look ghastly under the veneer.....

a damp cloth and an iron

Christo, have you used this technique before? does it come away cleanly? and considering this body is a 5 piece laminate under the veneer, would the steam not seperate the laminated pieces too?.

Ive been too busy to get any further with this, maybe try tomorrow.

YES! I have used it before to lift a fretboard or 2. it will work, but only let the moisture penetrate as far as you need it to to get off the cap, you just have to be careful and pry as you go so to speak on something that thin it shouldn't take alot of moisture. the hardest part would be getting under it in the first place, don't have the iron on full blast unless you are payind alot of attention, a plastic scraper may help lift it, ine with a longish handle, once you have your beginning point you should be alomst able to set the iron on the towel and push with the scraper some, you will feel it releasing, as the scraper lifts the cap it should push the iron from underneath if you catch my drift.. the only real problem i see is getting the glue out of the pores once you have the cap off. it can bleed thru paint, poly etc and look real poop, again, getting the first "lift" will be very challenging, IF you know what you are doing, a soldering iron could be used to start the lifting the cap from the very edege, to get at least a starting point. may i ask why you are doing this to a plywood body?

thanks for the info christo, I may try this first as I may end up with a more level finish than some of my previous sanding attempts...

Its not a plywood body as such, but a laminate 5 piece (i think) and the reasons are: 1. it was already sanded down to the wood in a few places to "relic" it by a previous owner, 2. I've often wondered what the wood was like under the paint on these mustangs, Ive had a few of these over the years and had to cut away some of the wood under the trem springs on one, where the wood was a silver-grey colour which got me thinking.
Also for the betterment of my learning process with regards to finishing/refinishing.

ok, i gettcha. but your first pic above screams wire me up....then douse me with a rosewood fretboard! forget the rest!