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Hi folks. Sorry about the duplicate post for those of you who are on the AGF also. I try to avoid doing that, but am looking for a solution to this.

I just finished my first abalone rosette, and it turned out ok, but not perfect. I have some pin-sized holes and gaps, mostly along the edge of the circle, between it and the purfling right up against it. Looking for suggestions on what to fill the gaps with to make them less conspicuous.

Thank you for your great advice! You've all been a lot of help so far, both with questions I've posted, and answers to questions others have. I think that's just swell.

Phil

Pics?

CA generally works well. Flood the rosette with thin. Allow it to dry for a few hours. You can then target the gaps and just flood those areas until they are completely filled.

Hard to tell much without pics Phil. If I have holes or gaps appear after leveling abalone I take a piece of shell and crush it with a hammer on a hard surface, then take some fragments and force them into the hole and CA in place. Then level. But without picks it's hard to know if the is the right fix for your situation.

_________________
Michael F Smith
Goat Rock Ukulele
http://goatrockukulele.com

Do not use CA as a filler if you did not seal the channels prior to installing the rosette --- otherwise very ugly fluorescent yellow green, irreversible stains will develop and make you very sad.

Pics would help -- I prefer to hold off on drop filling until the surface has been completely sealed. I use thickened nitro lac -- put a puddle on a piece of glass for several hours and it will gel up nicely.

_________________
Ken Cierp

http://www.kennethmichaelguitars.com/

Thanks everyone. I did sceal the channel with shellac ahead of time.

I tried taking a picture with my phone, but am having trouble getting decent resolution with something so small.

The gaps are small. Really small. Maybe the size of the end of a b string. A few are a bit bigger. I'll try taking pictures again.

I like the crushed pieces idea. Thanks!

I'm going to suggest you use a quality finishing epoxy like West System. Try to Keep it walled off from the spruce as much as possible. CA can produce unexpected staining in spruce if you have not adequately sealed it (wicking). No amount of sanding etc will get rid of it. Epoxy is so safe for this app.

Might do that. I've got lots of leftover WS epoxy from working on my wooden boat!

Was just wondering if there were universal tricks like using dust or anything like that.

Thanks

Personally I haven't had good luck using shell dust. It looked like cement dust.
I used some cheap Chinese CA on a couple of guitars and was sorry I did. After a couple of weeks it showed where it wicked into the spruce by turning bright yellow and couldn't be sanded out. Sunburst anyone?
You could lay down a couple coats of finish to fill/seal gaps and then finish up with a good quality C.A. (then level sand)

I always glued the abalone in with Weldon 16 and use a small flat screwdriver to push it together where the breaks are. Any tiny gaps are drop filled with lacquer.