Official Luthiers Forum!

Are egg whites a sealer or grain filler? Does one use shellac in conjunction with egg whites?

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A higher purpose for wood.
Rich Smith
Issaquah, WA

Egg whites are both a sealer and a sizing agent. you can use shellac after using egg whites to size your wood.

Hey!
What is a sizing agent?

My humorous answer is to ask your mother as it is a lost art in ironing cotton clothes these days. simply put sizing agent is an agent that will slightly raised the grain then stiffen or firm up the fibers when it dries. Back when people ironed cotton shits daily they would size the fabric with a water and very light starch solution . The heat of the iron in conjunction with the light starch would firm up the fabric. the same thing happens with soft woods when sized with egg whites. it raises the grain and slightly impregnates the fiber and dries stiffer than normal. give it a try. It will surprise you.

I think that in the art world a size is anything that will reduce the absorbency of a material. Raising grain and setting up fibers is incidental; it isn't necessary for a wood size to do that.

Egg white can be used as a grain filler, too.

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Howard Klepper
http://www.klepperguitars.com

When all else fails, clean the shop.

So it seems that you follow up egg whites with shellac to seal it? I'll be using a lacquer over top.

_________________
A higher purpose for wood.
Rich Smith
Issaquah, WA