Pumice and French Polish

[tnt2002]

I've French Polished my first two guitars, and used the micro-bead Pore Filler from LMI (Mahogany). Probably my technique, but was not overly impressed with the (fill) results.

For my upcoming finish, I'm going to go with French Polish again, this time on Rosewood, but use the Pumice for pore filler. (LMI sent me a huge bag, so I'll probably have some extra to share, when I'm done.)

Just wondered if anyone has done this before, and has any advice. Found a great vid on YouTube (forgot the author), but the results looked pretty impressive.

I'll post the results on my build blog for anyone interested.

Tom

Have a look at Brian Howard's video before you get started:

[tnt2002]

Check this one out.

[johnnparchem]

I have pored filled with pumice once on a classical. viewtopic.php?f=7&t=403. The results were good, and I did get all of the pores filled. I have moved to a zpoxy fill because I found that I like the results of a transparent filler. With the pumice you end up with a slurry of shellac\wood dust from the pumice sanding the surface and pumice. I tried the milburn method, almost no shellac and little pumice and made no headway after many hours. I was a bit looser on the shellac and the pumice and the back and side filled nicely.

[B. Howard]

I too prefer epoxy fill under my FP. It is a clarity issue for me, I find the traditional pumice method to be a bit closer to a "stained" look when it's done. But pumice will work well and will most likely be a bit quicker. I find it fills in better if you work a bit wetter than you typically would for polishing. You should practice on some scrap first, getting a feel for how much pumice to put out is the key to getting it done nicely and quickly. Try putting some pumice into a salt shaker and using that to sprinkle the pumice rather than a traditional cloth pounce, I think it's easier. Also make sure to allow adequate dry time for the shellac to shrink back in the pores to asses progress before starting to finish, You can always run another fill session in the finish if needed but it's a pain after you've starting the actual polish process and usually takes you a few steps back..

[justrfb]

Hello All.
John and Brian, I am soon to embark on my first build and coming from an RC airplane building hobby (I built WWII fighter planes from kits) I used Z-poxy over fiber glass cloth (.75 oz) and filled the glass weave with Z-poxy and micro-balloons. Is this the same Z-poxy you are speaking of and can I use the micro balloons for pore fill along with it on my mahogany build? Z-poxy and micro-balloons filled the glass cloth weave real nice and was very easy to sand. What do you think? Thank you for your answers...
Sincerely,
Rich

[johnnparchem]

I use zpoxy PT 40. No need for a filler the epoxy will fill the pores.

[B. Howard]

I use System 3 sb112 rather than Z poxy. It has much better optical clarity. I add the fumed silica to it which I imagine its very similar to the micro balloons. So my best guess would be yes, but its always a good idea to run some samples first.

[Darryl Young]

Rich, it's the same ZPoxy........the finishing resin.