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Been watching Robbie O'Brien's French polishing video. I've never done French polish and thought this would be good training. Robbie's a good teacher. ...anyway, he used egg whites on a western red cedar top to "size" it. What does this actually do? Is it good for spruce? Does any of you do that?

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

Sizing is something that is done to seal a surface with some sort of binder, to make a surface a bit more even, and a bit more resilient, before doing something else to that surface. Glue sizing is often used on end grain, for instance. In this context, it is meant to fill very small nooks and crannies in the cedar and get the cedar more even before the shellac goes on. It probably helps keep the grain from raising, too. Some folks use egg whites as a pore filler. I have not used egg whites yet, but I want to experiment with it as a pore filler at some point.

I have read conflicting reports, sometimes from the same source, regarding the utility of such a sizing coat on spruce prior to French polishing. For instance, in the GAL article about Eugene Clark's method of French polishing, it sounds like he thought sizing with hide glue was a bad idea. But in the Somogyi books, he tells of personal lessons with Eugene Clark where he used a hide glue sizing before applying the finish. Sheesh.

I think that this, like just about everything in this endeavor, calls for personal experimentation.

This will be my third attempt to post this reply.

Richard Brune told me years ago that a traditional method of pore filing was to use egg whites and pumice and rub vigorously. So, the mix takes on the color of the wood. I am not sure if egg whites along are good for filling.

Egg whites are protein... And I remember a rumor about Stradivari using egg whites to seal the inside of his violins?

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"Act your age, not your shoe size" - Prince

I have used egg whites for pore filling. It is simple and cheap and non-toxic. I followed it with a hand applied oil finish and got the satin and slightly rustic look I was trying for. If you want a perfect smooth gloss finish then an epoxy pore fill is probably better. Personally, I don’t like “pane of glass” finishes so the egg whites seem like a good approach.
Here is a fairly old thread on anzlf which illustrates the method (although I would point out that the original poster, Allen McFarlen, no longer uses it. He has moved on to very professional epoxy and lacquer finishes).
http://www.anzlf.com/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=742

Hey Steve....I have used egg whites as pore filler on my last 3 guitars. I have done the slurry wet sand and also mixed it with the Colortone wood filler and slurried it in. I was really happy with the results but I have never used it on a top. The beauty of it I found was that after it had dried and been levelled, a quick buff with 12000 micromesh gave it almost a polished finish shine. Made it very easy to see any imperfections in the "finish" before any actual finish went on.

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Blue Ring Acoustics
blueringacoustics.ca

Like a lot of topics, this one has been discussed before. Many times, a new discussion adds new information. But if you want to see what's been said, here's four pages on filling with egg whites, or trying to, along with some discussion of sealing tops with egg whites.
viewtopic.php?f=10101&t=20982&p=291272&hilit=egg+whites#p291272

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Tim Allen
"Never hurry, never rest."

Egg whites are my go to pore filler. I use a piece of 320 paper and sand the egg whites in a polishing swirling motion. A slurry of saw dust and egg fills the pores.

It also 'sizes' the wood which basically raises the grain and seals the wood like the way a sanding sealer works.

It is interesting to read that old thread, with Hesh and Padma and Kim all showing their characters, which we now miss around here. And who would have thought conversation could get so heated about egg whites? Good information there too. It makes me decide to go back to egg white filling for my next instrument.

If you produce the glare and then let it sit in the bottom of the cup for a few months you will find that it produces a rather hard brittle resin-like substance. It has the advantage that it is water based and therefore dries relatively quickly. It's also water soluble. If you let it build (like a varnish) it doesn't do great things visually for the wood. Of course it works as a sealer or a filler (when combined with bulking agents). I can't say I've noticed any real advantage over things like clear shellac or sandarac though. Not so sure it's any disadvantage either. It will tend to raise the grain a little more than shellac, that's easily dealt with.

Wow, that old thread is a blast from the past. That conversation helped me quite a bit at the time, but I eventually moved away from pore filling with egg whites. Not because it didn't work but because I simply like to experiment and wanted to try other methods. I remember enjoying the process and the fact that it was not only chemical-free but also traditional. I may go back to using egg whites for the guitar currently underway.

Steve - To get back to your OP, I have not used egg whites on spruce or cedar tops as either a pore filler or a sizing agent.

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George :-)

Do not neglect Salmonella precautions.

This thread is making me hungry for Egg's Benedict, love eggs Benedict.

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Ann Arbor Guitars

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The name catgut is confusing. There are two explanations for the mix up.

Catgut is an abbreviation of the word cattle gut. Gut strings are made from sheep or goat intestines, in the past even from horse, mule or donkey intestines.

Otherwise it could be from the word kitgut or kitstring. Kit meant fiddle, not kitten.

Woaw, look what the cat dragged in!

Who is this new guy "Hesh"?

I might try filling with egg whites again too! Last time I tried it, it didn't seem to work that well, but I just used egg whites. Next time I'll try glair. I ran across this little tutorial on Youtube that covers how to make glair paint, which is glair + pigment, and was used for painting illuminated manuscripts. It seems like the extra step of making the glair might be worth it, so I'm going to give it a try.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?reload=9&v=Dp9Ie582s2U

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Tim Allen
"Never hurry, never rest."