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I'm going to be pore filling with epoxy then French polishing my first build but I may have planed poorly and purchased the wrong products.

1: I originally used a cabinet scraper with mixed results (for example, it worked well getting the sides relatively flat but it gouged the top and back so I went on and sanded with progressively finer grits, starting with 100, then 220 and up to 320.

2: despite my best efforts, there is still some cupping along the lower bout. I've sanded pretty aggressively so the indentation is not as bad as it once was but I dare not go thinner. How badly will this affect the finishing process?

3: I sealed the mahogany back & sides and rosewood binding/rosette with 1 lb cut of ultra blond shellac thinned in denatured alcohol. I've read that Z Poxy will not adhere to shellac though. I've since sanded back down to bare wood but is it too late to move forward with the epoxy?

4: Instead of the finishing resin I purchased the 30 minute formula from a local hobby shop. Are there special/additional steps that need to be undertaken or should I order the finishing resin instead?

Sanding sounds good, the cupping will be what it is but will not stop you from FP the guitar. The shellac, as long as it was sanded off should not be a problem but I would do a thorough wipe down with DA before applying the epoxy. The epoxy however is the wrong type for this, you definitely want the finish resin.

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Brian

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

https://www.howardguitarsdelaware.com/

Just thought I'd repeat that.

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Trevor Gore, Luthier. Australian hand made acoustic guitars, classical guitars; custom guitar design and build; guitar design instruction.

http://www.goreguitars.com.au

Worth repeating.

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Old growth, shmold growth!

Thanks!

And how! I've paid my dues on this one....