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Wood prep with Grain Filler


goat

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yeah wood filler is too thick.i tried it once and itr sucks.i am going to try ca glue next,per drak's suggestion....his stuff is so cool

O.K. I returned that stuff and am going to pick up the right stuff.

What is the technique for using CA glue?

I know Drak stains and clears alot of his stuff,I`m painting this Lake Placid Blue.

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This is the way I do it, although I'm sure there are other ways just as good...

You absolutely need a respirator and goggles, the fumes are SO strong for about 5 minutes, that you won't be able to keep your attention on the task at hand, then the glue will dry before you've had a chance to do it right, making a mess...

I've found the BIGGEST 'deal' with using CYA is to use exactly the amount you need, and very little extra. Any runny spots or moundy buildups, it takes a Lot of elbow grease to sand it back off, and it's usually MUCH harder than the surrounding wood, so you have to block-sand level (I hate doing that), so it's best to get as MUCH extra off of the instrument as you Possibly can, hence the socks/towels etc for super-quick wipe-ups if some runs off the side or whatever.

So, respirator and goggles in place.

Playing card or two at hand.

Socks/towels at the ready.

My default is the Yellow (medium) CYA Hot Stuff.

Pour some CYA on and start evenly spreading it around. I use the card to 'guide' it along, and can usually get right up on the very edge without running over the side (I'm really careful, I hate cleanups/sandbacks)

Use a light scraping motion to keep it minimal, my card is scraping the wood, only getting as much on as needed to fill pores, not slobbing on enough to put a solid coat on the entire guitar, although you can if you wish. I am scraping the extra off of the top and driving it back into the pores, they will soak it up at first.

Laugh if you want :D , I use my finger to wipe it into end grains along the side. Yes, I have a big glop of dried superglue on my finger for a day or two, but it peels off w/o too much trouble in a day or so (your skin has oils in it which make it easier to remove in a few hours), and there's nothing else I can think of, save a latex glove (maybe I should try that?) that will give you the control your finger provides. But I do endgrains after the rest has dried first, about an hour or so...

I try to get it done as fast as possible, I do not go over and over and over it, you would be taking the chance that it will start drying on you before you've finished and wiped off the excess...maybe 2-4 complete coverages at most. I cover the territory a few times, drag any extra off to the side onto a sock, and it's done, within 2 minutes max.

My 'goal' is to have it done and excess wiped off before it starts drying on me, within 2 minutes or so. It's like a race to beat the dry-time.

If you feel the need to tape anything off first, then do so. CYA's downside is cleaning off any extra, it really really sucks, so do what you feel you need to do to protect anything else, I'm comfortable enough with it not to bother too much...it's all in the control you have holding the card, guiding it, and being in control of what's going down and wiping any extra off quickly and neatly.

Any extra you leave puddled or mounded on top you'll have to block sand off, so I don't, I'm actually 'scraping' it along.

Once you get the hang of it, it goes very quick and it's done before you know what happened.

Best bet is to just do a scrap piece first so you know how it will 'act'.

Sometimes you'll need to do a 2nd or 3rd coat, just depends on the pores.

PS, I've experimented with using a small paintbrush too, which works, but the glue will harden the brush in about...you guessed it, 2 minutes or so...but if you can get it done before that, the paintbrush worked OK for me too...but I prefer the card now.

PPS, don't use it if it's humid, CYA accepts moisture as it dries, and if it's humid, the CYA will become a bit cloudy as it sucks in moisture from the surrounding air, not the nice crystal clear coat we want.

There are other situations where I would use the Red (runny) first, like with Ash, which has huge pores and little tiny pores too. I use Red first, then yellow second coat. Just depends.

Dries flat and hard as a freakin' rock with no future shrinkback.

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