Official Luthiers Forum!

I'm building a Weissenborn type guitar that will have Sapele back and top. I will be using Z-poxy on the back and sides and was wondering about using it on the top too to match looks. Those of you that have make koa or mahogany topped guitars did you pore fill the top?

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Dave White
De Faoite Stringed Instruments
". . . the one thing a machine just can't do is give you character and personalities and sometimes that comes with flaws, but it always comes with humanity" Monty Don talking about hand weaving, "Mastercrafts", Weaving, BBC March 2010

Yes you do want to fill a Koa tops, any hardwood open pore tops for that mater, and Zpoxy is perfect for Koa. Just like the back and sides fill, sand back Just to the wood. fill again if needed and sand back to the wood again. Then rag on a 60%DA/40%Zpoxy mix. This will even the color but not leave a film thickness. Very lightly sand with 400p or 600p just to give a tooth for a shellac sealer, Seal and your ready to apply your finish.MichaelP39023.3721527778

On my mahogany topped guitars I treat the top just like I would the back/sides. One word of caution: with Sapele, the pores are so open that thinned epoxy can wash right through leaving and ugly stain on the inside. The only thing I found to help this was to actually thicken the epoxy a bit (silca beads) on the first filling to create sort of a barrier for future coats.

Timely info on the Sapele pore filling, Paul. I'll make sure I thicken it up before applying the epoxy. Thanks for the tip!

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JJ
Napa, CA
http://www.DonohueGuitars.com