Wood Staining Warping Prevention

[Jiffy]

I picked up an old guitar from a friend and i want to refinish it. I just want to do a natural finish. I have a palm sander that takes off the paint pretty well.

So, what i was wondering is how can I finish it and prevent warping? Today i tried a little section by sanding the paint off and putting some sort of substance that helps the wood absorb the stain and then i put some wood stain on it. Could i do this with the whole guitar or would it warp? Also, how do i get that shiney lustrous look?

[othankheavenfor311]

first off you want to completely sand down the guitar until all the paint is gone... before doing anything else

next you want to make sure that the clearcoat on the wood of the guitar is completely sanded off too...

then you do all the fine sanding. you should probably go from 60 grit -> 100 -> 250 -> 400. and make sure it is very very smoooth or else the finish will suck

next you use ur wood primer the stuff that helps it absorb the stain or w/e

then stain... than clear coat

alot of work i can go into more detail but here is a site tht gives you pretty good directions

http://www.sputnikmusic.com/forums/showthread.php?t=480478

[Jiffy]

thanks man, can i get some sort of clear laquer so i can get a hard clear coat on top?

[CCR90]

polyurethane

[Jiffy]

the stain im using has polyurethane in it, so is it neccesary?

[LambofDeth]

If you have a poly/stain mix you should be alright, it depends on the finish. For mine i think i'll be putting a (don't know the name...lacquer?) on over the stain to give it a nice glazy shine.