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Mostly done on ebony but a few rosewood headstocks too. Cleans up easily enough with naptha, minerial
spirits and a shot of compressed air. don't recall ever having any problems with white pores.
Just a light coat doesn't seem to get in the pores, then it's just mostly the dust to deal with.

Ken

I think my first step is to get a couple more task lights. I like the pencil trace method with the fine point mechanical pencil. I just need to see the lines better.

Assuming you've gone the knife/scriber and chalk route, while agreeing with everyone who says plenty of light I would add that it needs to be a low, raking light, hitting the surface at a very shallow angle, and to the side of the line opposite your dremel. Combine this with an Optivisor and it will look like you are routing up to the rim of the Grand Canyon. The other thing I've done is to remove a small chip from the waste side up to the scribed line first, which only accentuates further where the actual edge is.