finishing W R Cedar

My current uke project has a sinker Western Red Cedar top over bees wing Black Walnut back & sides. I just applied the final coat of resin pore fill on the body, but of course there won't be any pore fill on the Cedar. My two previous builds that used Cedar were finished with many thin layers of shellac, followed by many thin layers of Tru-Oil. While they both look nice, I suspect I may have inadvertently inhibited the response of the instruments, as they are not as resonant to my ears as I had expected.

I'm thinking of a minimalist approach to this soundboard, using just a few thin coats of shellac followed by a few thin coats of Tru-Oil, and not worrying about getting the grain filled. How do other builders on the forum handle finishing Cedar?

I finish all softwood tops the same. Do you whisker the wood before the first coat?

jcalkin said:

I finish all softwood tops the same. Do you whisker the wood before the first coat?

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Whisker the wood? That's a new one to me.

It just means to dampen the wood and sand back the raised grain. With red cedar, you should do it a couple of times before applying any finish.

jcalkin said:

It just means to dampen the wood and sand back the raised grain. With red cedar, you should do it a couple of times before applying any finish.

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Yes, I definitely do that, with any wood.

tonyturley said:

Whisker the wood? That's a new one to me.

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Good thing now I know because my cat was getting really pissed off.

tonyturley said:

Whisker the wood? That's a new one to me.

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Sorry. "Whisker" is gunsmith slang. "Raise the grain" is likely better among luthiers. My bad.