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I know that when you do the pore filling that you do not pore fill a spruce top, or that was what I was told, but can you and why not would you not do that??

Certain woods don't have open pores. Common hardwoods are maple, cherry, and birch, but none of the softwoods - conifers - have open grain. No need to fill.

Ed

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Ed M

Some hard woods, like maple and cherry, have such small pores that they don't have to be filled either. You can pretty much see which woods need pore filling. I built a cherry guitar that didn't need pore filling, yet the walnut that I built had huge pores.

On spruce , filling is a waist or material. There are no pore for it to fill .
The process for filling is as much technique as it is material. I have used so many fillers in my building history and here is what I learned

A SEAL FIRST

if you don't the filler will shrink , the object is to seal the wood , that will help block the pores so the filler will work better

B NOT ALL FILLERS ARE THE SAME

I have used pore o paq from behlen for a long time and have very good success with this product. I would get it in natural and stain it for each application.

my new favorite one is the LMI water based filler. It has ample work time , and does a great job. You can rub it in by hand and unlike other water based fillers it doesn't dry so fast as to make a mess of the job.

C EGG WHITE AND SANDING
Yes this does work the protien in the egg white will adhere with the dust and fill pores.

The best advice I can give is #1 READ THE LABLE #2 Sample the product and your technique.


Martin taught me my process and I do pretty much what they do. Apply let flash and rub it with a wool bonnet on a hand help buffer or hand rub with denium or something rough like burlap.

I do this at least 2 times
so

STAIN ( minwax brand is also a sealing stain ) I still shoot a coat of sealer over it.

allow a few hr to dry depending on product. Apply filler then seal

If I am using Nitro I hit the sealer in about 10 min with a wash coat of nitro as there is no need to sand a seal coat.

apply finish per instructions or your technique.


learning to do a good finish is often harder than building the guitar.

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John Hall
Blues Creek Guitars Inc
Authorized CF Martin Repair Center
president of Association of Stringed Instrument Artisans
http://www.bluescreekguitars.com