Reddit mentions of Understanding Wood Finishing: How to Select and Apply the Right Finish (Fox Chapel Publishing) Practical, Comprehensive Guide; Over 300 Color Photos and 40 Reference Tables & Troubleshooting Guides

Understanding Wood Finishing by Bob Flexner is a great book. Lots of details and both how the finishes work and how to use them. Including help identifying what went wrong and how to fix or at least not repeat.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1565235487/ref=mw_dp_mdsc?dsc=1

1. Yes it is.
   
   
2. Well my experience has shown me the finish turns out nicer if you have a perfectly smoother flat surface. The depth of the finish also seems to improve. I have done some experiments and I think you can tell the difference. I know I have heard people say you can’t improve the appearance beyond a certain grain of abrasive but once you do it… you will change your mind. The better the underlying surface the better the finish will look. I have also noticed better performance with adhesion on well prepared surfaces. I would rather apply many thin coats of finish to a perfectly flat surface. This is an outstanding book. It is the bible of finishing IMO. I would recommend it. I have read it 3 or 4 times. http://www.amazon.com/Understanding-Wood-Finishing-American-Woodworker/dp/1565235487/ref=la_B000APORGS_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1346872818&sr=1-1
   
   
3. General finish Satin Arm-R-Seal
   
   
4. I like the domino system. I have owned mine for 3 or 4 years I think. I use it all the time. I used to fart around with routers and templates guide bushings. I do cut real old school mortise and tenons sometimes still. These are generally timber frame stuff or very large furniture. As long as the size is right I don’t see much of drawback at all. Price is the only con I can see. It is an expensive tool. The domino and guerilla glue make an amazingly strong joint. The speed and ease of the domino is amazing.
   
   edit:fixed some spelling and added Bob.

Tage Frid Teaches Woodworking Books 1 and 2 by Tage Frid. Book 3 is optional but worth the read in my opinion. Books 1 and 2 go over techniques and skills in an very organised way making it easy to understand. Book 3 looks at projects and their designs teaching you how to design a project and why it should be designed that way. You use to be able to get Books 1 and 2 in a combined paperback for $20 but I can't find it for sale anywhere. There's a box set of all three books for $60 on amazon. You should be able to get the books second hand seeing as the books have been around 20-30 years.

Understanding Wood Finishing by Bob Flexner is probably the best book on finishing. It goes over a range of different finishing techniques and gives tips and solutions to common issues you might have.

There's plenty of other books that are good to read but these are the only ones I'd call essential.

My brother got me that book for last Christmas. It doesn't go over any particular topic in depth but it really provides a great overview of most woodworking topics. I particularly appreciated the sections on joinery and different wood types.

The next book I would add to your collection is Understanding Wood Finishing by Bob Flexner. It's a great read that provides useful information I just couldn't find online.

You need Understanding Wood Finishing by Bob Flexner

I am currently reading this book and am loving it so far.

Understanding Wood Finishing - Bob Flexner

I also found a pretty sweet source for furniture related books on amazon as well. Search this persons used books. I ordered about 6 books from them the other night.

Well, if it's 100% tung oil then you could just put a couple of coats on and then let it dry. If it's Tung Oil Finish, which is pretty much anything that doesn't say 100% tung oil, then it also has varnish in it and you'll want to wait overnight, maybe sand with some 400 to get out any dust nibs or bubbles, then recoat and wait and see if you like it the next day.

Just make sure you let that stuff dry completely before you topcoat it with anything. Your shellac would actually make a good topcoat and you can really shine the hell out of it if you like that look, although it will add a little bit of color. It's nice, though, because if it gets nicked up you can just add a new coat of shellac and it'll completely reamalgamate into the finish and look new.

You can do that with some other topcoats, too, but any of the urethane stuff, water based or not, is going to build in layers and so it's harder to repair. If you have a good paint shop anywhere near you, or if you own a compressor and sprayer, you might also try lacquer. You can get spray cans of lacquer at good paint stores and it works pretty well and is still more repairable later than urethanes.

Just make sure your oil coats are totally dry before you topcoat. Get your nose down in that thing and really try to sniff the fibers out of it and make sure you don't smell any more of the finish anymore!

If you have some time before you do it and want to really investigate some options, check out this book by Bob Flexner (no, I'm not him pimping my book!).

Really great book that is very, very comprehensive and easy to follow on different types of finishes, the pros and cons of each, application techniques, surface prep, etc. I use this book constantly, as evidenced by the bent up, finish-stained pages that sometimes stick together now. Any of the books by Jeff Jewitt are also really good for finish types and techniques, but the Flexner one is a great go-to for just about anything. If you live anywhere near a Woodcraft or Rockler or other woodworking store then they probably stock it.

Anyway, sorry for the wall of text. Just finish your sample piece the way you think you want to finish the guitar first and then you'll know exactly what you're getting and what issues to expect.

I'd suggest reading a book on finishes. I just read a book that was fantastic --really upped my game. There is quite a bit to learn, but you'll be happy you did.

http://www.amazon.com/Understanding-Wood-Finishing-American-Woodworker/dp/1565235487/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1374796630&sr=1-4&keywords=stain+finish

Also if you are interested in learning what each type of finish does and how it works, the best book you could buy is Understanding Wood Finishing.

Bob Flexner is amazing, he writes pretty much all the articles on finishing for Popular Woodworking. This book is probably the most enlightening woodworking book I have read. Prior to reading it I always found finishing to be a bit of mystery and definitely intimidating, not anymore.

You achieve it by hard work supported with decent experience.

You can start with the basics here.

Ah, no worries. The bible for this sort of thing is Understanding Wood Finishing. Fantastic book.

"Tung oil cures very slowly ... you need to wait several days between coats". Source: http://www.amazon.com/Understanding-Wood-Finishing-Edition-Woodworker/dp/1565235487

If it truly was 100% tung oil, then it was the "polymerized" kind, where it has been heated in an oxygen-free environment to cause crosslinking. This causes it to cure faster when exposed to oxygen.

Oil varnish is more durable than shellac. Shellac is more traditional and easier to repair.

I have used shellac as a sort of sanding sealer before moving on to oil varnish for film building finishes. A thin shellac sealer drys very fast allowing you to sand and move on faster. Oil varnish will take quite a bit longer to dry.

I usually make my own wiping oil varnish using various amounts of mineral spirits, linseed oil, and polyurethane.

If you're interested in diving into the vast world of wood finishing, I would recommend Bob Flexner's book Understanding Wood Finishing. It's very comprehensive.

Non-drying oils aren't common wood finishes. By far the most common oils used as wood finishes are linseed and tung oil which are both drying oils. Read this article by Bob Flexner regarding wood finishes and food safety. I highly recommend this book by the same author regarding wood finishes in general.

Just throwing out some topic areas that have interested me lately:

• Manual metal machining (lathe/mill)
  
• Welding / brazing
  
• glass blowing / lamp work
  
• cellular automata
  
• superconductivity
  
• watchmaking / clockwork
  
• thermodynamics / entropy / heat engines
  
• common lisp
  
• turtle geometry
  
• hypnosis
  
• reading body language
  
• woodworking
  
• electroplating / electrochemical machining
  
• Bayesian probability
  
• analog translinear circuits
  
• cellular biology
  
  Things on my todo list to learn more about in the future:
  
  
• chemistry
  
• differential equations
  
• plastics
  
• knots
  
• metallurgy
  
• fractional calculus
  
• space filling curves
  
• self-assembling / self-replicating machines / structures
  
• Quines
  
• jewelry making
  
• metrology
  
• molecular biology
  
  Other things...
  
  
• regular expressions
  
• Astronomy
  
• Telescope making / optics (grinding mirrors)
  
• topology
  
• Theory of relativity
  
• ice sculptures
  
• philosophy of math, intuitionism, ultra-finitism.
  
• wood finishing
  
• switching power supply topologies
  
• bicycle making
  
• illusions / magic tricks
  
• electrophoresis
  
• social insect behavior
  
• Godel's theorem
  
• Game theory
  
• tesla coils
  
• gun smithing
  
• drawing
  
• n-body choreographies
  
  

I really never use shellac, so I may not be the best resource on that.
I also don't think I would ever use solely wax, though some people do that. I like my woods to look natural and typically don't want a high gloss. I find myself using Danish Oil or Arm R Seal. Danish Oil is an "in the wood" finish. You let it soak and remove the excess from the surface. Arm R Seal does have some polyurethane in it so can build coats on the surface. I don't work with pine but most finishes will add at least a slight amber hue. For a bedside table I'd want some protection so would think Arm R Seal could work well for you. This book is great .

This book: http://www.amazon.com/Understanding-Wood-Finishing-HC-Woodworker/dp/1565235487/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1451936834&sr=8-1

And, this government paper: http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cdrh/cfdocs/cfcfr/CFRSearch.cfm?fr=175.300