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I was thinking of using the uke kit I got for my 3yo as a guinea pig for learning finishing and binding. I have grand visions of also doing some inlay on it. Has anybody else ever done this?

BTW, how the heck do you put a rosette on one of these since the soundhole's already cut out?

the fretboard isn't solid so inlay is very difficult . The veneer is so thin that you will likely sand through it . Binding can be done but you need a fresh bit and again this is veneer so if you don't get the binding perfect you will likely again sand through the side veneers.

I admit to making a few of these myself . I was surprised at the sound . It at least sounded like a uke

OK, so I bought one and have been taking the jump into French polish today using amber Shellac. I don't know, I must be doing it wrong because I'm actually having fun so far. I think the sapele looks kinda nice now. The finish is starting to fill in and little by little the gloss is starting to get clearer with each coat.

Well, it was going good:



Another casualty of sibling rivalry.

BTW, the 12th fret is MIA. I may just chuck it and start over but I put a LOT of effort into the French polish as was just about to do the final buff.

Oh no......that hurts!

Gosh Neil, how sad.
If you do another one make sure to lock it up out of reach when not being worked on.

Kevin

FWIW I'm thinking of picking up another one. They're only $22 or so and I've already got the shellac ready to go. The only thing I'm out of really is time put into it - and I skipped pore filling anyway.

You can probably still make it playable if you drill a few holes in the neck and in the body and use a few plugs to join them together again, but maybe some of the fretboard is broken off?