Lacquer drop fill error? issue

[Jerry Ryan]

After finishing a peghead I hard a couple of low spots where I had replaced inlay. I drop filled, scraped and polished.I allowed 24 hr for the drop fill to dry. After a week the spots where I drop filled had shrunk, again leaving a low area where I drop filled. How long do I wait to be assured shrinking/drying is done befor final sand and polishing?

[Frank Ford]

I usually wait two weeks because a drop fill is often seriously deeper and thicker than an original finish, so it takes a good long while to dry fully. Even then, I'm not surprised to see a tiny shrinkage effect later.

[Jerry Ryan]

Frank, Thanks! 2 weeks...Hummm, patience is a virtue in this trade eh?

Input from folks here have made this Guild GAD 50 restoration turn out great! From repairing a folded / cracked top, repairing the tailblock, side crack/breaks, internal bracing repair to MOP logo replacement and body refinishing. I found the tips I needed to change a $77 salvage guitar into an amazing guitar my pickin' friends now want but will never get!

Thanks for this site!

Jerry Ryan

[David Houchens]

I keep a little ink jar with 1/2" of lacquer thats been sitting with a clothe top on it for a several days. It lets the solvents evapoate a little and leaves the lacquer thicker. Kind of preshrunk. After it thickens to desired consistancey, I put a sealed top on it. This will still shrink some in deep pits, but not as much as fresh lacquer. You still need to wait about 4-5 days before leveling and buff. Still not fullproof, but helps.

[Andreas Demmler]

My expirience is ,it depends on what kind of laquer you use.
I had to cover wrong drilled machine holes. I used on this guitar 2 component laquer. It shrinked after a time of 3 month.
Nitrocellulose laquer shrinked after 4 weeks . less shrinking I mentioned on water based laquer.

[Christian Johnson]

Frank's right. At least two weeks. If I have to fill a real deep crack, I'll do one drop a day until its higher that the finish. I then wait about a month, as it's deep.