Official Luthiers Forum!

I have it too and guess what!?
Most everything you sand from ebony to MOP will not get out of your lungs. Most everything you breathe from dryer sheets to acetone corrodes your lungs.

James, if you mean this question for me, I'd say that the guitars sound great as long as you keep the finish between 3-5 mils. It's as acoustically transparent as any film finish with the exception of shellac.

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

Yeah It seems the best sounding guitar I` ve made was French polish.I like to seal the guitar with shellac before I finish.I like the look it gives specifically on spruce tops.Do you think this would be a problem for the accelerator going over it.I`ve always used Ca for pore fill and love it So I`m thinking Id like to try this.Its just a few more coats so why not.Where did you get those black gloves? Also how long did you wait to buff it out

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James W Bolan
Nashville Tennessee

I shellac the top before the CA and the accelerator is fine with that just as it is between coats of CA. It flashes off faster than it does on bare wood. If I don't wait long enough for the accelerator to flash off then the Starbond starts curing while I'm applying it, which makes for a more uneven surface. The shellac is good for the end grain of the neck too so that the finish is absorbed more uniformly.

Shellac and even a thin oil varnish look great and are probably better acoustically but they don't offer the same protection.

As long as I have taken my time applying the Starbond I can buff the day after the last coat. It will leave some odd marks that look like scratches for a day or two but they can be buffed out easily and don't last. I didn't get that with the BSi CA but it was a lot more expensive and the marks are only a short term problem.

I get the Duraskin Blackshield nitrile gloves from my local hardware store but you can get them online too.

If you're going to try this out maybe just do it on a neck first to see if you like it. I apply the accelerator to the whole neck first and wait a couple of minutes before applying the CA in small sections. It's interesting how little you apply as you spread it out. Like most finishing it's good to work wet into wet. Starbond gives you some extra bottles and thin tips which help control the application. It's pretty runny stuff so you have to act fast.

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

Thanks Ken great info

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James W Bolan
Nashville Tennessee

I'd be worried that I wouldn't be able to work the zipper so that I could get out after spraying.