Where do I got from here?

[Mr. Redwood]

I started finishing my second ukulele a few days ago, currently I have three coats of Formby's Tung Oil fully dried and "polished" with very fine steel wool. I will continue to put on another few coats until it is nice, smooth and glossy, but after that I want to protect it in some way and I wondering if the tung oil will be durable enough for an instrument, and if not what do I use? on my first uke I used some minwax paste wax but that left a matte finish that looked amateur and it didn't work well with making the grain stand out so I'm worried there isn't an easy solution. The way I build ukes is very peculiar and the body is 60% exposed endgrain so I'm hoping there is an easy solution that I haven't found yet. and with instruments like the one I built I need to keep the finish thin, so that cuts out a few obvious finishes. I didn't fully polish the fret board so you guys can see the before and after the steel wool provides. Any advice is appreciated.

 

The body is made of mahogany and the neck is walnut/maple

[wtnhighlander]

Formby's will provide a reasonably durable finish. If you want a high gloss, but not a heavy build, just keep adding coats, scuffing between each with 600 grit paper or higher. Steel wool works, but seems to leave a lot of fuzzies behind. Alternatively, use the finer Scotchbrite abrasive pads. Once you feel the build is heavy enough to suit you, scuff it an apply one last coat, which will not be scuffed. You might feel the desire to polish it, but I would only do so with something like McGuire's auto polish and a buffing pad.  The general idea is to abrade with higher and higher grits until the desired shine is achieved.

Paste wax leaves a very nice tactile surface, but isn't hard enough to take a glossy polish.

If you weren't already aware, commercial guitar makers typically use some type of spray lacquer, then buff it to a high gloss. You can do that too, if you want to spray.