MIMF

On my current build the body is faced with some pommele sapele veneer. This stuff is extremely delicate, and since I have a lot of operations yet to do including routing the pup cavities and neck mortise, concerned about damaging the veneer particularly when using double-sided tape.

I was thinking that since I plan on grain-filling with epoxy, that I should go ahead and sand the veneer to 220 and apply at least one coat of epoxy to provide a bit more stability to the veneer fibers to make them less likely to be damaged in subsequent operations. I don't see any downside to doing this, but my inexperience tends to bit me inna butt so I thought I'd post the idea here and see if I get a "dope-slap"!

Thanks.

I guess if you're going to coat it with epoxy anyway, there is no reason not to use that. If it were me, I would put a coat of shellac on it. That's enough to keep the tape from lifting fibers (assuming you're careful with removing the tape). When I'm feeling cautious, I shellac the top and back before binding the edges, so the binding tape won't pull up fibers.

I thought that I have seen many people say that shellac should never be used under epoxy. I could be wrong on that.

I agree with John that you would be fine if you pre-seal the wood with epoxy, and then use it again as a pre-finish pore fill coat. Long set epoxy is very compatible with itself as long as you sand the surface completely just before recoating.

Thanks, gentlemen!

Since you are just trying to keep the tape from pulling wood fibers you might want to make a "rubber" and apply the epoxy like french polish- a thin smooth coat. Dilute the epoxy 10 % with alcohol.

Clay - the deed is done. I simply smeared the epoxy onto the surface, let it soak in a bit then squeegee'd it off. Thanks for the advice, but my limited experience is that wood soaks up epoxy like a sponge, so (and i could be wrong) I'm not sure thinning would accomplish much.