I prepped sand as well as I could, using naptha to highlight problems. Even still I find that naptha or water can still mask high and low spots. When I was OK with the prep sanding I masked off the top with low tact tape, mixed up a small amount of Silvertip epoxy and applied it to the back and sides and the headstock veneer. I apply the epoxy smooshing into any pores and remove all of the excess using a plastic name tag blank.
After four hours without sanding I applied another thin coat. Basically I wanted a thick enough fill to try and level. The next morning I wet sanded the back and sides level chasing all of the shiny areas.
As can be seen in the next photo there were some low areas where I had to sand through the epoxy to actually level. At this point I examined the body and used gluboost CA to drop fill the small voids in the bindings (mostly pin sized at this point). I use a razor blade and a touch of sanding to level any fills. I repeated the application of epoxy and level sanding removing epoxy until I started to get sand throughs. I then applied a wiped on diluted coat of epoxy ( I mixed a batch of Silvertip and then add enough alcohol where it could wipe on with a cotton rag)
I removed protective tape on the top, cleaned up the binding edge and went to work on the top.
The top was previously sealed with shellac, so I dry sanded the shellac back with p1000 sandpaper. This turned up a few voids in the rosette which I drop filled with CA and leveled with a razor blade and sand paper.
I then spent three days applying 3-4 coats of 2lb shellac and sanding back looking for and cleaning up any issues. I spent a bunch of time getting the body to neck transition clean.
Before spraying I want to install the fretboard dots (already installed the side dots) and fret the guitar. I am waiting on a bunch of pearl dots as I though the ones I had were too big for a ukulele.
Here is what it looks like now. In some ways it could be considered finished. The postcat Royal Lac will give it a more durable finish.
