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My first spray finish was going excellently - the sunburst was looking good. A few days of practicing on cardboard scraps had paid off. No sags, no runs, good color gradation. I brought the guitar in to dry when the color coats were done and went back few minutes later (after cleaning up the gun) to scrape the purfling on the rosette. That went smoothly too - then I realized I had been bearing down on the guitar a little bit, pressing it into the two plastic pyramids that were holding up the body while I did the scraping. Duh.

Nothing truly catastrophic, but I have two nice, new dents in the back of my guitar. I bet/hope I won't make that mistake again. At least they are in the black area of the sunburst.

Can I fill those with CA (on top of the shellac) or am I better off just living with them?

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LEED AP

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Registered Architect (Texas, New York)
LEED AP

Most pressure dents can be steamed most of the way out, by putting a small piece of wet paper towel on it and then heating it (soldering iron, clothes iron, or just boil some water and use the bottom of the pan as a heat source). But the moisture might mess up the burst...

Filling with CA or epoxy would probably work ok.

I prefer to use burn in shellac stick for any dents that can't be steamed out. CA will eventually telegraph through the finish, IME.

That's a phrase I haven't heard before. What is "burn in shellac stick"?

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Registered Architect (Texas, New York)
LEED AP

They're sticks of dry shellac and/or lacquer that you melt with and hot knife and smoosh in.

http://www.mohawk-finishing.com/catalog ... ictNbr=109

I find clear and clear/amber most useful.

In a pinch you can melt shellac flakes.

CAVEAT: it takes a bit of practice, and you could mess up the underlying sunburst color if you aren't careful.

Note to self:
Do not leave an alcohol-soaked rag on the workbench when working with a newly-finished guitar.
Turns out Lacquer ain't all that resistant to alcohol.
Doh!

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Wah-wah-wah-wah
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Oh - I haven't done that one yet. Thanks for the heads up.

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Registered Architect (Texas, New York)
LEED AP