Hi all. First, thanks for everything you do here. With the help of past discussions, I had my first inlay experiment go really well!
I’m going to attach a photo. In it, you’ll see that I’m inlaying into walnut and the shellac stick filled the pores around the inlay. What are some techniques for either (1) preventing this (maybe some kind of sealer or pore filler before the shellac stick?) and (2) filling the rest to match without shellac sticking the whole thing?
Edited by - cjwit on 05/23/2026 17:21:40
Great luthiers are better at hiding/fixing/embracing their mistakes. With your issue I might embrace this mistake and create an ovalish shadow effect around the mushroom, instead of having the mushroom just sitting there in mid-walnut.
Nice inlay with engraving and very tight borders.
I normally only use shellac sticks (actually mostly synthetics) in small defects so I don't get pores full of it and I don't know how you would remove it. I suspect filling the rest of the pores to match would be easier.
As Rob said, nice tight inlay!
In case anyone is interested, here's a quick demo of the new banjo and a photo of the inlay after pore filling (with pumice) and finish (shellac). You can see that the pore filling did a pretty good job with color. But knowing where that initial line was from the photo above, you can tell where the shellac stick filled more deeply/widely/broadly(?).
Here's the banjo in action: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2WLwPZPdsIQ
Edited by - cjwit on 06/24/2026 09:22:54
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