Last redwood top... chipped side = Day of The Dead theme "feature"

This is kind of funny. This is the last redwood top I have and I was almost through it then I guess that super duper new binding tape was stronger than I thought, pulled a chip in the side near the waist. So far, redwood tops have made me do extra work each time. I probably could have filled it with a sliver of poplar but I knew what I wanted to do with this redwood anyway.... been thinking about it for a while now and this clinches it. I've already filled the chip with CA and poplar dust and sanded smooth... soooo... here goes.

Plan of attack: Two coats of shellac ( as a sealer ), then sanded with 220. Then the top and binding masked off and go at it with airbrush / brush and acrylics. Roses and sugar skulls on the back and sides with sugar skulls inlaid into the headstock veneer and I'm not sure about the fretboard yet.

Not sure why this theme keeps nagging at me... something tells me someone wants this, does that sound odd? Prolly does.

Anyway let me know if I'm doing something wrong, the shellac sealer should be fine for a base for the acrylics and then waterbased lacquer on top right?

BTW yes that's the other ambrosia maple set in the background... being prepared for a very cool custom job.

wo..how many ukes are you working on at the same time, Vic?
There are so many sets in the picture...haha...

By the way, in your experience, is redwood stiff or soft?
I was planing down a piece of sinker redwood top the other day with a jack plane. The redwood top was not stiff at all after I planed it down to 2 mm.
I am a bit worried...
Do you experience the same thing?

I feel your pain I just finished lacquering a myrtle and redwood tenor. The redwood is really tuff to work with

@UkeforJC, I've got 6 on the bench and 16 more sets cut, all sopranos mostly poplar but there are a couple of mahogany and a couple of mismatch "fun builds" in there.

I'm not sure about the stiffness of redwood because this stuff I have came as a full size guitar set that supposedly cured for like 50 years or something. So, it's stiff but it's fragile too. It seems to have really good strength/stiffness with flexing it along the quartersawn grain. But it doesn't like being taken down as thin as spruce and definitely not as thin as mahogany. I've gone a bit thinner on this that my last couple, .085" (2.16mm) in the center feathered down to around .065 around the outside of the lower bout, keeping it stiff under the bridge and the upper bout. I guess different redwoods will behave differently.. but I kinda wish I was brave enough to take it down to .070" in the center.... just not feeling it though. And yep, even @ .085 it does feel a little less stiff flexing it across the grain. Go for it though! Be brave lol.

@Bluesuke, The thing is, the other redwood topped ukes I did incurred dents in the top, I was very careful with this one and the poplar ended up biting me lol..

I've heard the old growth, 100 year old, 'sinker' redwoods are quite a bit different from regular redwood. Is that what you are working with?

Can't you find the piece of tape with the chip stuck to it..and fit the chip back in ????

Right on Timbuck, that was my first thought but then I said to myself nah, it was meant to be what I wanted it to be in the first place. The chip is pretty shallow... I think the CA/dust fill is pretty solid.
In other words, I couldn't find the chip lol