I've only used cocobolo for back and sides twice, in each case, I used epoxy for grain filling, worked very well. Course, I used epoxy for grain filling on all my guitars now. I've tried lots of other materials and methods for grain filling, settled on epoxy about 30 guitars ago, works for me. Here is the back of one of my cocos. The finish is polished short oil varnish.
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I use WEST with 207 hardener. Very clear, low amine blush, sets up hard enough to sand in 24 hours, no corning. I've found letting the epoxy induce for about 10 minutes after mixing, before using, helps get a good solid cure in such thin films. I squeegee two coats as thin as possible, sanding well between coats. If I break through which I usually do, I wipe the entire surface with a little epoxy and an alcohol soaked rag right before I squeegee another coat, this drives the epoxy in and the color match is perfect. If I have done a good job of initial sanding and prep, two squeegee coats is enough, but if more is needed, I do it. If I have break through after the final sanding, which I almost always do, again, I wipe on epoxy with an alcohol soaked rag. If you get the proportions right, it almost feels like French polish for a little while, before the alcohol evaporates. The epoxy ends up being very thin in the end but provides a very solid base for any other finish going forward. For me, that is usually French polish. Doing a good job with the epoxy greatly reduces the time spent on French polish and a high gloss comes up very quickly.
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