Best way to prepare maple veneer

[Trevor Davies]

Hi,
With reference to the kit guitars with the spalted maple veneer, which is going to get a Tru-oil finish on the maple.

Should any small imperfections, like dips in the veneer or scratches be filled with
1. timbermate
2. CA glue
or 3. none
before adding the tru-oil?

I know that I should not sand it at all, or would a gentle high grit rub OK?

regards

[jonwhitear]

It'll take a lot of coats of TO to fill any imperfections in the surface, so I think it's worth trying to fix them first. You've obviously got to be careful with sanding, but I'd think that's the way to go to fix up scratches. The flip side is that any imperfections aren't really going to stand out as there's so much going on with the figure in the veneer.

On my recent build with a bridseye maple veneer (a non-PBG kit) I didn't attempt to fix up the imperfections and scratches, and in hindsight, I probably should have. There are scratches visible under the TO, but you'll only see them if you're looking for them. I put on tens of coats, and the surface still isn't completely level.

[Trevor Davies]

Thanks Jon. I have gone back over your build thread - which has helped a lot.

[ThatCluelessGerman]

I‘d use CA for big dips and maybe a grain filler (birchwood casey make one that they recommend for the use of tru oil). I didn’t with my first build and it took month to get a great finish on burl.

[JimC]

I use Birchwood Casey sealer filler. You can put multiple layers on in reasonably short order. I tend to drip spots on with a spare fret or something and reckon to sort out levelling once its built up above where I need it. Usual applies, if you've dripped it on thickly it does need days rather than hours to be ready to sand.