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Anybody tried that? I've heard mostly about shellac and its relationship to epoxy fillers. Has anyone tried this and does it work? I have filled many a peghead with Smith All Wood Epoxy over vinyl sealer with good results so far but not yet on an entire instrument. I mostly do varnish finishes and french polish. Right now I have an order for lacquer and am curious about the epoxy filler.

Thanks
SR

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"We might not be big but we sure are slow"

I have never tried this and there is a reason why. Solvent based finishes like vinyl sealer and nitro will outgas for quite some time, shrinking as they do. The catalyzed epoxie will cure pretty quickly and remain stable after that. I would opt for putting the epoxy down first as a kind of base coat/pore filler, and let that cure well and then sand it flat and put the vinyl sealer over that. That way you have a uniform base for the sealer to rest on and the depth of the vinyl will be more or less uniform since there are no deeper pits of sealer where the pores are. When that sealer shrinks it will shrink uniformly. If lacquer is over that vinyl, it will shrink uniformly too.

If the epoxy hardens over the vinyl sealer, and the vinyl eventually shrinks, as it probably will, though slower, then you could have delamination problems at those pit areas, since the epoxy will want to remain fairly rigid and not follow the vinyl down.