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Hello,
I am about ready to complete the finish on a classical guitar with Indian rosewood back and sides. The issue I am having is that I did a poor job pore filling it and my untrained eye thought that it was going to be ok after the sanding sealer and lacquer was applied, well it wasn’t . Now after spraying the lacquer there are tiny pores in some areas that showed up and I am wondering what to do to fix it .
I don’t care if I have to sand it all off and refinish it, but maybe some of you have gone thru a similar problem and could share a solution.
Thank you in advance.

Danny Morales

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Danny Morales

Hi Danny,

You can try a couple of things. If there are only a few pores to fill you could try drop filling with some lacquer. Once cured you can scrape it flush with a razor blade and continue on with the leveling/buffing process. Some folks also use CA for drop fills. Or you could start the leveling process then reapply more lacquer as a pore fill/top coat. You could skip the levelling process and just put another series of topcoats on, but you run the risk of having a finish that looks more like belongs on a bar than a guitar. You also might have adhesion problems if the final finish is too thick. You don't have to sand down to bare wood unless you want to. It's perfectly acceptable to use the same finish for pore fill and top coat, though most don't because top coat finishes are much thinner and take a while to build enough to fill. Just be sure to allow plenty of time for the finish to cure. Lacquer will shrink and might expose pores if it wasn't fully cured when leveled.

Good luck,

Bob

How much lacquer is applied at this point, I had this show up on the back of a neck after the 1st 4 coats and leveling, I just continued but instead of spraying the next 4 coats I sprayed only the affected area with a couple extra coats and leveled again, this filled the pores and I continued on.

If you have gone through the normal spray and leveling process and are ready to final sand and buff, I would level and shoot a couple more coats on the bad area before final sanding.

Fred

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Fred Tellier
http://www.fetellierguitars.com
Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/pages/FE-Tellier-Guitars/163451547003866

I don't think you are in that deep , It is not uncommon to miss a few pores. CA or my favorite , lacquer , left in an open jar to thicken make a great drop fill. In most cases , you shoot a base coat and let set a few weeks. Then shoot a finish coat and let set then final sand and buff. You can drop fill the small holes at this point ,allow a few days and scrape off , shoot the final coats . As you final level sand you know the drops hit the sinks and you will be fine.
CA can work also but be sure not to hand sand them flat , you need a block as CA is harder and you can make the fill look just as bad as the void if not done right.

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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

Drop fill it with lacquer.

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I didn't mean to say it, but I meant what I said.
http://www.brackettinstruments.com/

Thank you all for the replies, I will drop fill as needed and then level sand one more time before the final coat. I have only giving it 8 (thin) coats of lacquer, so 1 or 2 more coats should be ok.
Thanks again.

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Danny Morales