I was curious about Paraloid B72, which was mentioned here as a good
medium with which to restore rotted wood [040311 MMDigest, "Stabilizing
Worm-Eaten Wood"].  It comes as what looks like a bag of clear plastic
beads, and is soluble in a wide variety of solvents: acetone, alcohol,
MEK, and others.

It's made by Rohm and Haas, makers of Plexiglas, and is a methacrylate
plastic.  It seems to be widely used for truly esoteric jobs like the
restoration of ancient manuscripts and Egyptian linens and medieval
books.  Makes for an interesting web search.

While I was searching on this stuff on Google, I came across a very
nice web site that shows how to apply stick shellac.  This, according
to George Grotz, "the furniture doctor," this stuff is like magic on
really horrid scrapes and dents to polished wood surfaces.

http://www.frets.com/FRETSPages/Luthier/Technique/Finish/StickShellac/sticklac1.html

(If you haven't read George Grotz' "The Furniture Doctor" series of
books, do so.  They're required reading for anyone who deals with wood
and antiques, and they're humorous and fun to read.)

Mark Kinsler
Lancaster, Ohio USA
http://home.earthlink.net/~mkinsler1