Oiling

After another 5 hours of sanding I have put on the first four layers of oil. The oiling process is pretty straight forward and goes as follows:
The first step is checking for left over scratches and dents. They have to be sanded away and then getting the surface as smooth as possible. The the guitar gets a good clean with a dry cloth. I first made the mistake to do it with a slightly damp cloth which resulted in the wood fibers standing up again. The fret board should not be oiled with this oil (it will receive a different kind of oil later on) so it is masked with masking tape. After these preparations the first layer could be applied.
The workbench should be covered with a soft cloth to minimize the risk of damaging the guitar.

The oil I used is Rustins Danish Oil. This is Tung oil based and easy to apply. Original mend for furniture but also widely used for guitars. The oil is simply wiped on with a cotton cloth. Could be an old T-shirt or bed sheet.

Then the guitar is hung up to dry. It is important to hang it and not place it in a guitar stand. When it hangs free the air can circulate around it which helps the drying process.

 The oil needs about 2 to 3 hours to fully dry. When you check if it is dry always check on the sides or the back. The top is soft wood which drys faster then the hard wood back and sides. In between layers the whole guitar is touched up with very fine OOOO steel wool.

4 layers are now applied and it still needs 2 layers. After that the guitar will be polished with three layers of bee wax. The oil really brings out the wood grain pattern.