# Final sand and polish for headstock repair



## ZeroGravity (Mar 25, 2016)

Long story short, I picked up a cheap Washburn acoustic with a broken headstock. Fixed it up and painted the whole thing black, and blended it back into the neck which required clear coating the whole neck. Turned out OK, not great but good enough.

My question is now that there are several layers of clear, what is the final sand and polish step? Is 1000 grit paper then rubbing compound and polishing compound OK? Not looking for perfection, just usable. Do I need to go to 1500 or 2000 grit paper? While I have a 7" buffing wheel, I won't be going that far, all hand done.


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## dradlin (Feb 27, 2010)

You won't regret working through 1000, 1500, and 2000.

Patience is the key to successful finishing results.


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## Guest (Jan 16, 2017)

Years ago, I also picked up a Washburn with the same problem.
Sand smooth, clear coat, then sand again with finer grits, as you both point out.
I should have saved some sanding dust to fill the little divot.


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## ZeroGravity (Mar 25, 2016)

Funny, that's the exact same break as mine, right across the bottom two tuners. Maybe this is Washburn's "Gibson break". Mine had a few chips bigger than those and it didn't go back tight, maybe < 1mm gap, but there was lots of good glue surface so it should be strong. I filled the gap and chips with wood filler and painted. You have to look close to see the break, which I am happy about, but the paintwork is fair at best. I am not really patient and I tried to clear too soon and crackled the base plus a few runs. The blending didn't go so well because the black didn't match. Oh well, for an investment of less than $50 total, I'm OK with it and it keeps me amused for a little while.


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## knight_yyz (Mar 14, 2015)

These are amazing, a bit of mineral spirits or soap and water to keep them damp like wet dry paper. The 1500 is actually equivalent to 600 grit sandpaper. After you are done with 12000, you can go to a swirl remover or a very light cut car polish with a terry cloth towel and some elbow grease


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## ZeroGravity (Mar 25, 2016)

Thanks. I think I am going to go with 1500 - 2000 wet/dry then polishing compound. Stopping in a Canadian Tire on the way home. Has to wait for the weekend to let the lacquer harden properly.


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