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I'm working on a concert ukulele with a red king snake inlay around the soundhole. It went pretty well but I must have broken thru the shellac at the snake head. I can't sand any deeper and am wondering if there is a way to fix this CA stain that soaked into the end grain of the cedar top.

T

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http://goatrockukulele.com

If you wipe some naphtha on it does it darken the top some and hide the stain?

I'm not sure there is a fix? None that I know of..

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Lance@LuthiersForum.com

The picture is with naptha wiped on.

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http://goatrockukulele.com

i would say your only fix is to cover it with more inlay. you could inlay a snake eyeball

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-Marcus
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Wow, I'm just working on a rosette of the other order of those colors, a coral snake

Sadly, I think you're stuck with the stain... I like Marcus' solution of putting some eyes on the sides of his head. Won't cover the stain entirely, but should make it less noticeable, and cuter too

That's a cool looking snake! I'm no inlay expert, but I would do as Marcus suggests and revise the design. Put on your thinking cap and you could end up with something awesome.

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George :-)

You could try taking a Behlins graining pen and Darken the grains the whole way around the inside of the snake in a similar manner with the idea of making it look like a shadow. Could add a cool 3-d type of effect. Remember, we don't make mistakes. We just create unusual opportunities to re-evaluate design.

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Brian

You never know what you are capable of until you actually try.

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It almost looks like a shadow, but not quite.
I would inlay an animal in the snakes mouth,
like a lizard or a mouse or something,
sticking out both sides.

Larger snake head?

Alex

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This is why I've stopped using CA on softwood... I've been religious about flooding with shellac, a few times before insetting and CAing rosettes in place, but I've still had some staining. Wood glue for me for rosettes and bindings from now on.

I don't think you can fix it to make it look just like you've inlayed it, but Brian sure gave a good suggestion to make it look more like a shadow....

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Maybe you could add a lower jaw and possibly open the mouth a bit? Hard to tell from that pic if it would work... just a thought...

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Jim Hansen

This is a great example of what can go wrong using CA on a top . Duco cement works well for this application . It won't stain a top is finish friendly and won't add water to the top .
I have not used CA on a raw top in over 5 years and since I went to Duco . I agree that CA may do the job well but it is that one time it won't that stops me from using it .

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John Hall
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