Finish for cigar box uke

I got this homade uke and the finish was terrible. I'm in the process of sanding right now and I'm wondering what to use for the finish. I was thinking about getting a friend that paints cars to spray it for me but I'm thinking I would rather use an oil based rub on finish for it. Like tung oil or tru oil or minwax. Should something else be applied before I use one of these and should I use one of the above mentioned. This is not a high dollar instrument and I just want to use something that's going to look decent. Thank you for any suggestions about what I should use and what not to do. Mark

I just got some tung oil and 600 grit sandpaper and 0000 steel wool for in between coats. Anyone know how many coats I should put on of the tung oil?

You can build it up to the level of finish and gloss that you like. I did some samples up on New Guinea Rosewood of various finishes that people could do at home for the last large class I had. With the Tung Oil I used it was 4 coats that gave acceptable build and a nice lustre. Of course you could go more, and it's pretty easy to do. BTW several thin coats always work better than a few thick ones.

Thank you for the advice Allen. That's what I needed to hear.

Allen said:

You can build it up to the level of finish and gloss that you like. I did some samples up on New Guinea Rosewood of various finishes that people could do at home for the last large class I had. With the Tung Oil I used it was 4 coats that gave acceptable build and a nice lustre. Of course you could go more, and it's pretty easy to do. BTW several thin coats always work better than a few thick ones.

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hey Allen, I've just sanded the fretboard do you know if I would also use the tung oil on the fretboard too and if not what would I use for it? Thank you. Mark

I've not used tung oil on a fret board. I suppose if you didn't go overboard on it, then it would be fine.

I've used the usual lemon oil, but don't really care for it as it's incredibly expensive and hard to get in Australia. It also doesn't last all that long.

What I use now is a very hard paste wax made in Western Australia for the fine furniture trade. Really just a blend of Carnuba and other waxes. It's the last thing I do in the finishing process and after all the fret work has been done and the strings are ready to go on for the last time, as I don't want to contaminate anything with the wax. A little goes a very long way.

you can really use any real drying oil finish. Tung, linseed, oil/wax. I will apply thin coats, wipe off, dry overnight and then start the sanding. If you begin with 320 to 600 grit before applying the finish you can get a very smooth surface without pits or hollows. I use automotive grits, 600, 1200, 1500, 2000 and 3000 wet sand before using a cleaning wax. The last step will bring out the shine. If you want a mat or semi gloss, just quit at the grit you want. It would be somewhere around the 1500 grit.

I have been applying spray lacquer to most of my instruments. I have some pictures up on facebook.com/cigarguitar. Feel free to buzz me if you have any more questions or would like to see more pictures... herb@cigarguitar.com