FP repair

[Iain McMullan]

Hi, i'm just finishing my 5th guitar, 1st for sale, being collected on Wednesday. I scraped and glued the bridge after i was sure the finish was flat and ready for buffing, fine. The buyer came to see it prior to set up this week, all great. The problem is after he left I noticed 3 pin holes in the finish on the reflective top and decided to 'fix' them as this guy owns his own cabinet making business and has a keen eye and i thought it was the right thing to do. I dipped the very tip of a 10 guage string in some thick, highly evaporated shellac and dabbed on about the size of a pin-head and left to dry for about 7 hrs or so before trying to take the head off and level.
I'm now kicking myself as this doesn't seem to work and leaves a melted-in blemish i'm frantically trying to correct without creating a hollow in the immediate vicinity. (i'm favouring 2400/1800 micromesh)
The FP is pretty thin on top - I tried to get it flat as quick as poss on this guitar, probably another mistake as the soundboard is old cedar and picked up scratches and dinks- when i thought i was being vigilant, so its had a few isolated FP repairs for scratches etc over the last few months & lots of time spent disproportionally building up and levelling out again.
Are there better ways of doing this?
Should i try loading my rubber with more shellac and melt some thicker coats on & cut before more light coats?
It feels like the rubber is scating over the top and not coating the bottom of these tiny craters.
I usually peter-out on FP once i get a flatish reflection with the intention of buffing-out eventually, because they aren't being sold, so have never been this close before.
I'm convinced this is a common issue. I've had a look to find better ways of doing this and am missing the MIMF archives.

[Waddy Thomson]

My method, when I have a scratch, or pin holes, or something like that on the top, or anywhere, is to fill them using pumice and alcohol with a drop of shellac on the muneca, and enough oil to keep from grabbing. My process is to do a pumice session, trying not to concentrate in too small an area, then do a body session, then do another pumice session and body session. Then I'd let it rest for a couple of hours or so, or even over night. After 5 or 6 sessions like this, most scratches and blems are filled with shellac and pumice, and do not show.

[Steve Senseney]

I agree.

The only thing to add, if this is close to your bridge, tape off the bridge.

I think that trying to put too much shellac on too fast can lead to these problems. Been there, done that!

[Iain McMullan]

fantastic, thanks a lot.