Official Luthiers Forum!

When I was pealing back the tape after binding, the tape tore up a few fibers from the top. Guess I need to warm the tape next time before peeling it off.

I sanded but didn't want to go too thin. Now as I french polish the defect is looking like this.



I've done 4 bodying sessions and the defect is getting a bit smaller but not filling in completely. How do I get it to fill in?? Just keep going with the FP? Apply the shellac directly into the defect with a tiny detail brush? Lacquer stick? Something else?

Thanks everyone.

I think applying shellac directly into the gouge until it builds up. I suppose you could even use medium CA if you're going to continue to build a finish layer on top of it. And yup, next time crack out the hair dryer...

I'll have to go searching for one at thrift stores...

I use a paint stripper fun which was a whopping 20$ I think...

I've never tried a hair dryer. If you shellac the top before using the binding tape, pull the tape off at a near 0 angle, and never pull it back in line with the grain, it will reduce the occurrence of wood coming with the tape. A hair dryer sounds like added insurance.

_________________
Joe Beaver
Maker of Sawdust

I've always used an iron on its lowest heat for loosening tape, works a treat.


~Nil carborundum illegitemi~

beginners learning curve. You must learn to read the grain and do as Filippo said , pull diagonally to the grain. Start pulling under the fretboard extension so you get a read of the grain fibers. Using a sealer as stated above also works.
To fix your issue you now have to drop fill and build up that voided area.

_________________
John Hall
blues creek guitars
Authorized CF Martin Repair
Co President of ASIA
You Don't know what you don't know until you know it

There's a couple of ways to deal with something like that. Either drop some CA in there ... let it cure well ... then level with fine abrasive on a hard block. I've also found that using a pounce bag (a small square of t-shirt material some fine pumice dumped in the middle, then pull it into a shape that looks like the fad you use to apply the shellac and put an elastic around it to hold together) can be a powerful tool. Just bounce the pounce bag on the top near the blemish, leaving a fine dusting of pumice ... then go in with your shellac fad, a little wetter than usual (you actually want to start to burn through the finish a bit, to shift the existing shellac into the crevice) and a little more oil than usual (because concentrating on a small area can make the fad stick). In this case the pumice is not used to fill, but as an abrasive. The combination of going in wet to shift the existing shellac ... and the abrasive action of the pumice, can really fill in anomalies in the finish. Experience will tell you how wet and how much pumice.

Sprinkle a little pumice from a salt shaker on your pad and let it clear. It doesn't take much. Then fp as usual with a very thin cut of shellac. Should even things out pretty easily.

_________________
Ken Franklin
clumsy yet persistent
https://www.kenfranklinukulele.com

As stated, use pumice, alcohol, tiny amounts of shellac and more oil than normal for bodying to keep it from sticking. Work it like you are pore filling with pumice. Work the whole area, not concentrating too hard on the blemish itself, but going over it repeatedly. If you concentrate too much on the blemish area only, you'll burn through the finish pretty fast, that's why I said work a larger area. Do several sessions with a 10 minute wait between them, then body some more to build up the finish a bit, then repeat the pumice process. Do this till it goes away, and it will, but it may seem like it never will. After you've done several rounds like this, wait till the next day to do more. When so deep, blems take a long time to fill. I have had experience filling fingernail marks that I made on a perfectly good finish, French polishing with my playing nails and no gloves. Now I use Nitrile gloves and cotton liners when I polish.

_________________
Waddy

Photobucket Build Album Library

Sound Clips of most of my guitars

If you fill with shellac, it will shrink back a LOT later. I would use CA.

_________________
Build log

CA repairs tend to show up later as well. Yes, drop filling with thick shellac is likely to sink, but it's still the safest method for a beginner.

IMHO, the least visible and fastest method is burn in stick. Smear some wax around the defect to prevent sticking, and push in some clear lacquer stick. Be careful that the iron is not too hot, or you can bubble the surrounding finish and end up worse off than when you started. Scrape or sand it flush, and proceed.

This most definitely should be practiced on scrap!!!!

It's kind of hard to get an idea of the scale from that photo, but if it's small enough, sprinking with pumice and filling in like a big pore would be fast and effective, as has been suggested.

Burn in fill. Quick, easy, done. And it will not show in the finish.

_________________
Brian

You never know what you are capable of until you actually try.

https://www.howardguitarsdelaware.com/

Lacquer stick, which is melted with a soldering iron, then FP over it after leveling. Very quick and doesn't shrink. I think that's what Brian is referring to.

Pat

_________________
formerly known around here as burbank
_________________

http://www.patfosterguitars.com