#16
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If it's me going with French polish I'd pore fill with the zinnser universal sanding sealer, which is 100% dewaxed shellac with additional drying agents. It takes a few coats but still fills fast enough for me (Sexauer introduced me to it) and that stuff is so easy to use that it's worth it. And it's readily available at ace and Home Depot etc (usually).
It also seems to me that thin CA sinks so deeply into the pores that it adds considerable stiffness to wood and I wonder if I'd like that? I saw some French polish bad arse (makes mandolins) uses varnish for his base coats and then French polishes on top of that. I can seek and find the videos if needed. Good luck! Sam |
#17
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Pore filling / sealing the wood, I know I do it reguarly, pretty sure Taylor do it as well,
Steve
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Cole Clark Fat Lady Gretsch Electromatic Martin CEO7 Maton Messiah Taylor 814CE Last edited by mirwa; 04-22-2017 at 04:34 AM. |
#18
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epoxy pore fill
I found that when blocksanding anything first sealed with epoxy, the high points of the surface will be cut back to bare wood and the valleys stay filled with epoxy. So as to have a consistent surface I've re-sealed one last time with a wiped-on coat of thinned epoxy just to make sure that bare wood wasn't exposed. Seems to have worked. For me. Again, test and learn as many of the nuances as can be found before committing to working on the real thing. Takes time, saves time.
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#19
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Quote:
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#20
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Sealing and porefilling are two different things I think.
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#21
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Sam, tell us more about the process...
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#22
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People do it. I wouldn't.
I once tried a water-based filler from LMI, about 15 years ago, called micro-beads. It sucked. Thing is, all fillers suck. You never get a single fill that remains level once you put finish on. But some suck worse than others. I currently use conventional solvent thinned paste filler, epoxy, and spackle with pigments, depending on the result I want. And it's a good job if it only needs to be filled twice. What is this "seal lac?" You are on your own with the Royal Lac. Every new product claims to to fixed all the problems people had with all previous products. Over and over again.
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"Still a man hears what he wants to hear, and disregards the rest." --Paul Simon |
#23
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Quote:
Yes I should clarify! And I use the cardinal pore filler sometimes too. Ok I use the zinsser universal sanding sealer to build up the finish on tops, back and sides and have also done so on a couple necks...... so far only engelmann tops, limba, white oak and macassar Ebony backs and sides, and a couple mahogany necks. I apply the sealer with foam mini roller. I don't sand down until the 2nd or 3rd coat. It doesn't fill as fast as the pore filler but it does do the job. As well I doesn't take as many coats of varnish afterwards. Wooo! I do prefer using the cardinal pore filler on mahogany necks because I use tru oil as the finish there and the pore filler is both faster and allows for the subsequent tru oil coats to go on very smooth = less coats! So I like all this for my process but I can see that it might not be the most linear or fastest. Ok suhweet. Sam |
#24
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I've used it to try and keep some amazonian rosewood side's from cracking before I bent them. Man the fumes were awful. Even with a mask on. I wouldn't do that again. I know other people with real spray booths use that technique and they didn't have the problems with fumes.
It did work. I just didn't like the process. |
#25
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Your point is?
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Cole Clark Fat Lady Gretsch Electromatic Martin CEO7 Maton Messiah Taylor 814CE |
#26
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My point is that one would seal the top, but not add a layer of whatever you choose to fill the pores with. Be it epoxy or CA of egg whites or whatever. Only the rosette needs the pores filed, if it needs it. Lots of rosettes don't.
In other words, he could do a seal coat or two of shellac on the whole instrument and apply CA porefill to only the back, sides and neck, then cover the whole instrument with Seal Lac, then apply the Royal Lac on top. CA need not appear on the guitar top. |
#27
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Fair enough, some people also pore fill the tops, whilst not a requirement it does get done by some builders and main stream manufacturers
Steve
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Cole Clark Fat Lady Gretsch Electromatic Martin CEO7 Maton Messiah Taylor 814CE |
#28
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You're talking about mahogany-top guitars , am I right ?
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#29
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Just a thought, and not the question asked, but if you are going to FP the finish, why not try pumice as a grain filler as part of your process. Much more forgiving and less toxic that CA and epoxy in my small amount of experience. It's easy to see how well the pores are filling.
I think CA will stain spruce if used on bare wood, and spruce is a closed pore wood, which generally does not require it, so just seal and finish. In other news, several established builders don't grain fill backs and sides as a matter of preference, believing that adding anything to the wood that doesn't need to be there is not going to have a positive effect on tone. Ralph Bown would be one example. Hope that's useful, (and accurate!) Matt |
#30
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I learned this technique from Charles Fox. He used a medium thickness CA. A little CA actually goes a long way. He spread it with a spreader like you would Bondo. Worked well.
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Steve |