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Well I finished adding a sunburst to my FP. I applied a few clear sesions, then sprayed dyed shellac, sprayed a coat clear to avoid pushing the color around and then finished it with more sessions. I am happy with the result.

However, being less careful than I should have been in set-up and showing it around to friends, it has a few dings. I've read past posts about drop filling with CA or shellac, but am nervous that when trying to sand the fills level, I might cut into the sunburst and have to start over. Is it ok to add a thinned out layer of Zpoxy or will that cause more problems?

Also, I'd be glad to post pics if someone could point me in the right direction.

Thanks,
Clay

I'm pretty sure the verdict will be to never put ZPoxy over shellac. Bonding problems in that direction, but not the other.

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Waddy

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I don't suggest that epoxy ever go over shellac as testing I have done showed poor adhesion of epoxy over shellac. That said we have several members that have no problems applying epoxy over a sanded seal coal of shellac prior to pore fill but keep in mind that most of the epoxy is removed and only the pores are filled with the epoxy. I would not use epoxy to fill voids on any finish. I would not use CA to fill viods in a shellac finish.

This is exactly what you get with French polish...for better or worse.

Drop fill with shellac and just be patient. You'll probably find that repairing the finish takes as long as doing it in the first place.

Frank Ford at Frets.com has some techniques for repairing finish on Nitro but they would probably work for FP too. The tapped ends of a razor blade will help with leveling. Check it out.

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Ken Franklin
clumsy yet persistent
https://www.kenfranklinukulele.com

Frank’s CA technique is for nitro. The problem with CA on shellac is it hazes the shellac and then that area is un-repairable via FP process later down the road unless sand back past the CA fill. Filling with shellac is the proper technique. I will likely take a couple or more fills as the shellac sinks back but is easy to do.

Thanks for all the input, looks like filling with shellac and patience will be the road to go. Here's some pics of the burst and the nice koa b&s. I'll post some closeups once I get the finish cleaned up.