Now all of the parts are prepped and ready to finish. In this photo, I am glueing the fretboard extension to the top. Just a dab of glue, so that if, in the future the guitar needs a repair of some sort, the neck is easily removed.

Here are the ingredients for a shellac Fench Polish. The shellac flake comes from the shellac beatle, and has been used as a finish on wood for centuries. It is also the finish that I have had the best results. I have tried many different methods with varying results. I don't have a spray booth so nitro-cellulose is out of the question, so an old school hand applied finish it is.

The shellac is mixed with alcohol. To apply the finish, I use some balled up wool wrapped in cotton. It is a 2 part application. First I pour shellac onto the wool...

...and then I pour alcohol into the wool. Then I wrap the wool pad with the cotton and then begin to rub the surface of the guitar.

Here is a picture of the first few swipes onto the guitar top.

The first few sessions act as a sealer coat. Then I build up the finish. It will take 10 to 12 sessions to completely finish the guitar.

Each session lasts approximately and hour to an hour and a half. It is a time consuming affair, but with 2500 songs in the I-pod it is time well spent. It is one of my favorite parts of the guitar building journey. You get to see the raw wood come to life literally at your fingertips...it's very cool.

Cheers!