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When is the best time in the schedule to drop fill?
Thanks,
Steve

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Steve Sollod (pronounced sorta like "Solid")
www.swiftcreekguitars.com

The earlier the better. If you wait till near the end then your final coats and sanding may not get the drop fill perfectly level.

The trick is to know which depressions to drop fill and which ones to leave alone and allow the normal coats to fill up. That comes from experience.

Good advice from Barry. If you see a line at the edge of a binding or purfling strip, you can be pretty sure it'll need to be filled. A deep pore that shows though the first few coats probably will need it too.

I usually drop fill at about coat 6. This gives the lacquer a chance to fill the smaller holes and still allows my a half dozen coats plus to put above the drop fills.

Ken

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http://www.casperguitar.com

I drop fill after the last coat (usually 4) of my "building mix" - a fairly thick 4:1 lacquer to thinner mix - and before leveling this last build coat. The final "flash coats" are next.

Chuck

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"To live a creative life, we must lose our fear of being wrong"
- Joseph Chilton Pearce