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I'm almost finished with the french polish bodying sessions on a cedar top. This is my first time using cedar and I drop filled a few small defects that jumped out after the first FP session with cyano. To my horror, the cyano turned the cedar a dark black color in the areas where I drop filled. I wasn't anticipating any color change based on the experience with my first guitar which had a sitka top. And I assumed the first PP coat would seal the wood which it didn't. In any case, I had to sand back down to wood and start over. Does cyano typically react with cedar or was my experience atypical? What do you normally drop fill cedar tops with?

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Doug Mills
Chicago, Illinois

I thick I would have use the finish media for the drop filled area. I know it takes considerably longer but you won't get issues if you use the shellac in a heavier cut than you used for fp sessions. I'm doing my first FP and I too have a cedar top guitar. I have a few little spots do drop fill and just planed on using some 2# cut shellac. let it sit for a few days, level the filled area, do the last couple bodying sessions than the glazing sessions.

Great looking guitar by the way got any more pictures to show us?

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The problem is not the CA glue but that the wood was not sealed enough to not allow the CA to penetrate the finish. CA glue can be used to effectively level (drop fill) shellac finishes with no problem. Don't use accelerator!

Robbie is right the issue is that the CA penetrated into the Cedar and caused darkening of the grain. Unfortunately this is likely through the majority of the tops thickness now. Intuitively I would have drop filled with shellac a tad taller than the film level allowed a day or two to set up and then scraped via a razor blade with a bur and scotch taped edges to near level and spirited off to level. Then glazed the top back to final sheen, but this info is a bit too late for you now unfortunately.

Thanks for the replies. I was able to pretty much sand out the CA stains so it wasn't a disaster. I just wasn't expecting it as I had no staining issues with my first sitka top. Just to double check I found a scrap of my sitka top off cut and another scrap of the cedar top, made a small dent in each and applied some CA. Sure enough, a dark stain developed on the raw cedar and no stain at all on sitka. Lesson learned. Next time I'll drop fill with shellac or make sure I have a couple of sessons completed before going near any CA.

Rod - hoping to have her finished by the end of the month and I'll post a few more pics. I made a first attempt with varnish (Behlen's) on the back and sides (FP on the top) and I'm quite interested to see how it buffs out this weekend.

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Doug Mills
Chicago, Illinois