Barn Found (super Cheap) Mandolin Restoration

Hi guys, in this instructables I am gonna show mandolin restoration less than 5 dollars. I only used some sandpapers a little coffee and indian oil that I found in home. I was thinking about finishing the entire mandolin with shellac(sunburst) but I didnt have much time and finishing with oil could be much faster.

Step 1: Removing the Pickguard and Sanding the Body

First thing I did was removing the all remaining glue residues form the pickguard. Then I sanded the headstock, neck and front sound board. Since the back and side finishes were ok didn't remove them. I lightly sanded the front part as a result I couldnt manage to remove the pickguard trace but its was ok for me. I sanded frets to give a shiny look with a fine sand-paper.

Step 2: Hardware

After some search, I found tuning machines and metal tailpiece those belong to the mandolin. I cleaned and oiled mechanical parts and dipped the plastic peg heads into a dark coffee to give them a brownish color (like old mandolins). I brushed the metal tailpiece and attached with some screws.

Step 3: Finishing and Final Assembly

I wanted to finish it with shellac but i would like to restore it with a small budget. I finished the sanded parts with indian oil which was bought as massage oil. I applied indian oil with a small cotton rag. It worked well. The mandolin sounds bright and the sustain is good.