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Glad you posted this Bruce. I've got some AquaCoat on the way and will consider my 1st coat of lacquer as part of the sealing process.

One thing I do is filler/blocksand/repeat till There's no more shiny spots, revealing open pores that sanding hasn't gotten to the bottom of yet. How many? enough. Again, smoothness doesn't come from putting stuff on, but from taking stuff off.

More on this process: mostly information that might help others. I did another coat of filler on the grainy wenge bits, and they turned out pretty well. I also put another coat of a batch of filler tinted less black on a walnut guitar. Most of it looks okay, but some, in some lights only, shows flecks of white or grey in the grain. It has had one coat of vinyl sealer after the most recent filler coat. I thought it might darken with sealer on it but no. I will try sanding back through that sealer coat, and either wipe some black stain on to try to colour the white bits, or put on another coat of filler tinted as black as I can get it (like what I sued on the wenge). The photos show the white flecks on the guitar side, with the tinted filler I used on it, and also the back of the same guitar, which looks pretty good, but I do see the odd white fleck there too. I used Mohawk "natural" filler, that I tinted. It is also available in colours including a "medium walnut" and a "black" which I think I would order next time if using it again - but it comes in quart sizes so lasts forever. The apparent inconsistency in the results has been challenging; I am wondering if a basic rule with filler is to "go clear or go dark". Bruce W.

Bruce, the back does look nice. Didn't know Mohawk had a black filler, might have worked well in my situation. AquaCoat arrives today for me and the plan is to add black dye.

Just the opposite, I am trying to figure out how Burton LeGeyt (my inspiration for many things lutherie) leaves his grain so evenly unfilled. The finish must be almost non-existent



flickr (dot) com/photos/ruby1638/51169338647/in/dateposted-public/

Following up on this: I did do a light sanding on the Wenge uke and guitar headplate, and also the walnut 12-string, and did another coat of filler on all of it. The filler was almost black and I used it on both the Wenge and the walnut. The colour was good on the Wenge, but even after five coats it is still grainy, but I am hoping with more coats of lacquer (six now) and some drop filling I can level it better. The black filler on the walnut does not look black but is much better than the light flecks I showed earlier. The marks in the walnut are not as deep as they look in the photo but do need filling. The ukulele photo is also in another thread if it looks familiar. Bruce W.

Opinion: I looked at the lower picture and what I see is a buildup of finish, I don't see the results of block sanding, critical to getting a filled and level finish. Hand sanding just won't do that job.

Pete

What's the difference between block sanding and hand sanding?

Block sanding lops off the high points, leaving lower levels intact. Repetition of filling eventually fills up the low points and repetitions of fill/sand/fill raised up the fill in the hollows and the block sanding limits buildup where it isn't desired. End result: smooth level finish.

Yes, it has not yet been sanded to level it, prior to drop filling, and then further levelling prior to final coats of lacquer. This is six coats of lacquer straight out of the gun. Bruce W.