Before applying any finish, the lute was strung up and checked out (as far as possible without any frets). Everything seemed to be in order, and tonally it was sounding very promising on the open strings.
Once the strings are off again, and after a lot of fine scraping and sanding, the first coat of French polish (shellac) is applied to the body. The soundboard and neck will be finished with some light coats of Danish oil.
Even just the first coat of shellac brings out the grain of the bird’s-eye maple beautifully.
Here a couple of coats of shellac have been applied to the back, and also two coats of Danish oil to the neck and soundboard.
At this stage there is still some structure in the finish. After the final “bodying” session of French polish, the surface will be lightly sanded and then a final coat of thinned Shellac applied to achieve a high gloss finish.
To follow – some photos of the finished lute.