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Before I say anything else, Ill say this
I did search the archives lol

I was looking for info on sealing the rosette channel... the first rosette I did was simple, a solid wood ring... no need to seal IMHO cause I glued it in with AR
But this rosette is a little more intricate - its made of 8 laburnum wood segments, bookmatched into 4 sides...
Its ringed on either side with coral snake strips... red yellow and greenish, in blocks surrounded by black striping...
The 4 corners that tie the whole thing in however, are ebony wedges, and the entire thing is surrounded on the outside with BWB fibre - it looks spiff!
Im really digging it and its fully mocked up and ready for glue...

However Im thinking of using CA this time.... and remember people saying that in such a case sealing the rosette is a must,,,
thats fine by me...

But I dont have any shellac on hand - and I was wondering if I could use this polyurethane sealer I had,
and if would work as well..???
Is there a specific reason everyone seems to use shellac, other than its handy cause its always around in practically any luthiers shop?
Thanks for any advice you could give me..
I have tested the poly on a scrap piece of spruce and it seems to dry nicely, evenly, doesnt seem to seep into any grains or anything..... what else should I be looking out for?
any other advice or info Im missing would be greatly appreciated..
Thanks again!
Charlie

Charlie bro I wanted to bump this for you.

Anything that keeps the CA from soaking into the end grain should work fine. I think most people use shellac because it is convenient, dries fast, is very thin, sands off easily, and is widely accepted for this use.

I think you are good to go with what you have, as long as the poly does not dry so thickly that it interferes with the fit of the rosette.

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Jordan Aceto
Ithaca, NY

Let me add to this just a tad. Anything that seals without penetrating end grain or into the fibers fibers. That is what makes shellac the perfect candidate. If you use something like tru-oil lets say that will penetrate in to the fibers then you have stained the top. Shellac does not penetrate into the fibers and can be sanded right off.

Good catch!

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Jordan Aceto
Ithaca, NY

Polyurethane, in general, is notorious for not bonding well to other things. I've never tried using CA on polyurethane. CA bonds well to a lot of things, but you might want to try a test of gluing something with CA to a surface coated in your polyurethane sealer, just to make sure it bonds well. Among the many advantages of shellac is that it adheres well to almost anything and almost anything adheres well to it, so when using it as a sealer, you don't have to worry about it interfering with glue adhesion.

If you get some shellac, you will quickly find it to be your friend!

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Todd Rose
Ithaca, NY

https://www.dreamingrosesecobnb.com/todds-art-music

https://www.facebook.com/ToddRoseGuitars/

egg white would be really simple too. I'm sure you got a chicken or two running round the ranch you can snag an egg from ya?

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