Soundboard finishes, was Re: Sound board dilemma

[Mark Story]

Reading this thread (thanks Glenn) has kindled a persistent question for
the group that I have had for the past year or so.  Has anyone experimented
with water-based coatings such as Hydrocoat Equal on refinished
soundboards?  

Over the past few years I have progressively curtailed my rebuilding due to
my chemical sensitivity to coatings.  First I cut out refinishing and kept
with soundboards and plates.  Now, however I'm having problem with even the
exposure to these (I use nitrocellulose lacquer on both).  I have used
Equal on household furniture and seem to tolerate it pretty well.  I have
some reservations about the physical properties of the material, but I am
certain these can be worked out. I am skeptical though, about how a
water-based coating would react with wood previously sealed with shellac.
Even my most thorough scraping and sanding seems to leave traces of
shellac.  With nitro lacquer this is not much of a problem, but I would be
concerned about the new stuff.  Any thoughts, or hopefully experiences?

Mark Story, RPT
Eastern Washington University
mstory@ewu.edu