How to remove super glue from a Nitro finish ?

[Trent Cudd]

Hello,

I got a project to un-fret a bass guitar and make it a fret less bass. After pulling the frets and filling the fret slots with a strip on ebony perfiling, I used super glue to glue in the ebony strip. Not noticing un till the next day, on the first fret the super glue dripped and ran down the neck about a half inch. I used stew mac thin super glue, so I thought that stew mac super glue remover would work just fine. Well, it helped, but also took some lacquer with it and now I got a small area where it removed the brown paint at the first fret where the player can see it !!!

 

I am going to drop fill with lacquer to fix the mess up and add some brown color and match it up, sand and micro mesh the area to fix it.

 

My real question is:

How can I remove super glue on a Nitro finish safely?

Is there any tricks?

Any good advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

Thank you,

 

 TC

[Robert "Yukon" Stubblebine]

Once it has fully hardened (CA may soften the nitro) I like to use a fine file to remove the glue from the surface - especially on a neck where the curved profile makes using a file ideal.  Then I go over it with 800 grit 3M, 1800 and 2400 Micromesh, followed by the buffing wheel.  Voila!

[Trent Cudd]

Thanks, I will remember then next time I get a drip. That is much easier than fixing the Nitro lacquer.

 

TC

[Jim Bancroft]

Thin superglue will run easily, I very seldom apply directly from the bottle for that reason. I whittle out a thin applicator stick, and put a small amount of glue in a bottle cap, dip stick in glue then apply.

If it does get on the finish, give it a quick swipe with a rag. If it's dried then it has to be sanded and buffed off.

 

Jim

[Trent Cudd]

Thanks Jim,

 

I did over apply the glue. That run turned into a mess. I just dropped filled and now color matches the bad spot, it's just a matter of drop filling more lacquer and then I will scrape with a razor blade, fine sand and use micro mesh and polish the spot. I sure hope it comes out undetectable. Next time i do this I will use medium super glue. The thin stuff likes to run too much. I do use the stew mac whip tips with super glue, it helps to control the flow better than right from the bottle.

 

TC

[Tom Krebs]

Never have a bottle of super-glue inverted over a guitar repair regardless of applicator.  Don't ask me how I know.  I use toothpicks and pipettes.  Those plastic bottles can fail.  Tom

[Pierre-Antoine Roiron]

Everything as been covered, and I can only add a little tip : once a drip or a run (swipped or not) of superglue has dried, I like to use an old broken knife as a scraper to remove it. I use this knife only for this purpose, and I try not to leave a big sharp bur on its edges, just a sharp square edge, so it's not too agressive and can slide on the finish. The only advantage is that only a minimal amount of buffing is needed, no sanding (almost) that could go through a thin finish.

[Ned Knepp]

I scrape it off too. I use straight edged razor blades and usually reduce the exposed edge with some masking tape over the part of the edge I don't want to use. I can also flex the blade slightly to give it a bit of a cup  which helps lift the corners from the surface.  I don't usually try to wipe up runs unless it a big one and IF they happen they are not big because I try REAL hard not to run. But I've found that for me it is usually easier to scrape a small run than to smear the glue which is what I tend to do if I try to wipe it off.

Ned 

[Trent Cudd]

Thanks guys,

This has been very informative. Now I have a good idea of how to handle any super glue runs, and not to use SUPER GLUE REMOVER on a lacquer finish. That created more work, but the color match and drop fill is working great.

 

  LIVE & LEARN,

 

 TC

[Pierre-Antoine Roiron]

You can on a PU or polyester finish.

[Gary Fried]

If you want an easy way to dispense thin super glue you can cut off the head of a plastic q-tip and use the shaft as a make shift pipette.