MIMF

Hi guys! Happy New year!

I pulled out a set of Madagascar Rosewood back and sides from my stickered storage (about 6 years) and discovered that the back halves have cupped or warped (one side more than the other. See Pics). Is there anything I can do to try to flatten them out?

Hi Alan, I would love to learn more about how you fill the pores with shellac/pumice. Is the process similar to the first stages of French polishing?

I will try that Freeman. Thanks for the suggestions and the complement. Your guitars look amazing! I quit building for a year with all of the pandemic stuff going, but am just getting back to it. Thanks again!

Hi Freeman. Yes, I read your thread and what you show is how I wanted the neck to look. Since I obviously did something wrong in my process, I am asking how to back out and get the neck back to a point where I can follow your process. I tried sanding down to the wood before I asked for help on this ...

Here is the mahogany neck with a couple Zpoxy coatings that were sanded back to the wood. I have ended up with a number of splotchy areas, as you see and the headstock is darker. Do I need to try to sand this neck totally back to bare wood, which I know is tough to do, especially in the heel and sta...

Thanks Barry. What kind of pad and what grit sandpaper would you use? Would you say thin the epoxy to 50/50 with denatured alcohol?

Here are a couple of pics. It is a little tough to see, but there are unleveled specks and a couple of sand throughs.

I usually grain fill the backs and sides of my guitars with regular pore filler, but decided to try using PT-40 epoxy. I have applied three coats so far, trying my best to scrape off the extra and not leave ridges with light level sanding in between using 400 grit sand paper. I still end up with san...

Thanks Barry. Yeah, I basically knew to leave them alone. I don't know what possessed me to try to smooth them out. The transition line felt a little too abrupt, but I should have just left them alone. Live and learn...again!! I will try some thinned lacquer with a small artist's brush!

I refinished the back on a one year old guitar (nitro finish). I had masked the top, neck, and sides right up to the back binding edge so I could spray the back. After curing the finish, I tried to smooth the transition on the binding edge from the new finish to the old (where the masking edge was l...

Sorry to ask one more question. Now that I have removed the finish down to the bare wood, is there anything more I should do to address the cracks? (I filled them with CA on the finish side before removing the finish and also from inside). I cleated the cracks on the inside. Do I need to reapply gra...

Hey Barry. Trying to sand down below the excess CA and respraying didn't work. So, I think I need to take the back down to bare wood, start over, and refinish it. Just to be clear, you don't think that using a good clear epoxy like West System or SB-112 System III to attempt to fill any pores that d...

I think I will try that first. Thanks a bunch Barry!

Hey Barry. The guitar was fully finished before I filled the cracks, the guitar is a year old. If I need to sand down, could I just go far enough to take off the excess CA glue on the finish around the cracks and not all the way to the wood?

Sounds good Barry. I agree. Thanks!

Finish Edges. There were no depressions before I sprayed and I scraped the CA flush so that I could not feel it on the surface before I sprayed. The spray coat flowed up to where the CA was and sort of conglomerated along the CA edges. Todd in the last post said the CA will mess with the surface ten...

Okay. I must have done something wrong! I filled the cracks with CA, scraped the glue flush with the finish (and it felt smooth. I mean I couldn't feel the cracks), then I scuff sanded, masked the rest of the guitar and shot it with coat of Nitro lacquer and what you see in the pic is what I got. Th...

Thanks Barry. I think if I can get the medium CA down in the cracks, then level with razor blade method and finally spray the back, I should be okay. David, I am out west (Utah) where the humidity on average is pretty low year round. I had the wood in my shop for about 4 years before I used it. I fi...

Thanks Barry! Hey, I had someone suggest that I strip the back finish off, apply clear epoxy to fill any cracks (and potentially prevent further cracks in the future), possibly even put CA in the known cracks as a double precaution, sand the epoxy down, and then refinish the back. It kind of sounds ...

Should I use thin or medium viscosity superglue. Will medium wick into the crack well enough from the finish side, or do I need to put a dam on the inside (not sure what) and then fill from the finish side with thin viscosity CA?