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Steaming Dents Through Finish
Posted: Sat Dec 05, 2020 2:36 pm
by Horsefeather
I'm working on a 90's Duo-Sonic with the kiddie neck. It's had a rough life and there are lots of dents in the neck. I've successfully steamed dents out before but it has been bare wood. My dilemma here is that I don't really want to have to sand all the poly off this thing to execute this task. I've sanded it down to satin with 400 grit and I'm wondering if the steam trick works through a plastic finish like this at all. Anyone have any experience?
Re: Steaming Dents Through Finish
Posted: Thu Feb 11, 2021 10:58 pm
by maximee
Old thread, but I’ll reply anyways.
Steaming through a finish without cracks won’t work.
I have a better solution that worked for me, especially with poly finished guitars. Fill the dent with medium viscosity super glue. Most work, don’t use the super runny one. Let it harden, don’t touch it until then. Don’t use accelerator, because it sometimes makes the superglue a bit cloudy and wobbly from hitting it too hard with the spray nozzle. You want it clear. Build it up and the carefully shape it down using a razor. Wrap the sides of the blade with packing tape, so it acts as a stop. Then scrape off excess glue and finish with micromesh and/or polishing compound.
Dan Erlewine is talking about that trick a lot.
It’s easy and I’ve had great results. Good luck!
Re: Steaming Dents Through Finish
Posted: Sun Feb 21, 2021 9:18 am
by adamrobertt
maximee wrote: ↑Thu Feb 11, 2021 10:58 pm
Old thread, but I’ll reply anyways.
Steaming through a finish without cracks won’t work.
I have a better solution that worked for me, especially with poly finished guitars. Fill the dent with medium viscosity super glue. Most work, don’t use the super runny one. Let it harden, don’t touch it until then. Don’t use accelerator, because it sometimes makes the superglue a bit cloudy and wobbly from hitting it too hard with the spray nozzle. You want it clear. Build it up and the carefully shape it down using a razor. Wrap the sides of the blade with packing tape, so it acts as a stop. Then scrape off excess glue and finish with micromesh and/or polishing compound.
Dan Erlewine is talking about that trick a lot.
It’s easy and I’ve had great results. Good luck!
Yup, I was surprised at how often super glue is used when I got a job building guitars.
Re: Steaming Dents Through Finish
Posted: Sun Feb 21, 2021 10:44 am
by jvin248
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Damp cotton t-shirt and a clothes iron (while it sizzles) will drive heat into the wood and lift through finishes. I've done it on poly and even old mystery finishes from 1960s MIJs.
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