Uke finish

[LARRY KLOSE]

I was given an unfinished Uke kit made by Ohana (ohana-music.com) for Christmas.  I plan to finish and assemble it to share with my grandsons, ages 4 and 7.  It looks like a nice kit and I'm looking for a simple finishing medium to make it functional and durable.  Maybe Tung oil or shellac?  The boys have one Uke already, but having one for each of them will encourage them to learn and to play together.  Any suggestions are welcome.

Our other daughter, mother of our granddaughters, lives about 10 blocks from Gryphon.  Could she have purchased it there?  It's not listed in current inventory... .

[Jay Lowe]

Larry - I'm not a finish expert by any means but I don't have a lot of respect for Tung Oil as an instrument finish, but that may just be personal. If you have experience with Shellac and are comfortable with it, go with it. It's easy to touch up as is Tru-Oil which I would encourage you to consider also. Good luck.

[Greg Mirken]

A few coats of a wipe-on Poly finish such as Minwax would be a good choice. Easy to do, offers decent protection, and easy to touch up when needed.

[Ed Minch]

My daughter does a uke camp each summer for girls 10-14.  She uses wipe-on poly because it is easy, durable, simple to teach, and you can do 2 coats in pretty quick succession.