Mandolin Finishing

Five coats of shellac and then wet sanding with 600 grit sandpaper to remove the tops of the shellac surface that starts out looking like an orange peel (complete).  Then another 8 to 10 light coats of shellac and set aside to cure 10 plus days (this was done two times). Finally, rub out using 800, 1000, 2000 and 5000 grit paper and car glaze. Then a coat of Johnson’s paste wax before installing the hardware and strings. A lesson I learned, give a week for the paste wax to harden before installing the hardware.