Finish for a kit guitar

[Falcon15]

I finished my Martin kit guitar with nitrocellulose in a spray can from StewMac.
It looked OK, but never hardened- you could scratch it easily with a fingernail, and soon it looked pretty beat up. I then tried nitro brushed on and I could not get it smooth. I sanded off ALL the finish, and applied Watco oil, and it looks really good and the finish, such as it is, is very easy to maintain- just wipe it. However I would really like to add some gloss.
French polish looks to be a bit more trouble than I want.
Any suggestions? I have used polyurethane on furniture to good effect, but no one seems to use that for guitars.

[stuw]

I have had pretty good luck using "tru-oil". It was originally made for finishing gun stocks, it has to be hard for that.

Here is a Koa back with tru-oil before buffing.

[Falcon15]

Thanks Stuw- I'll check it out.
Very pretty guitar there.

[Quickstep192]

I'm surprised the Stew Mac stuff didn't harden. I've used the Zinsser Seal Shellac in a Rattle Can and Deft Gloss Lacquer in a rattle can. The Zinsser worked well, but it does take a long time to fully harden. Once fully cured and polished, it's more durable than I thought it would be. The Deft was just like nitro. It leveled nicely, sanded and polished relatively easily, stunk to high heaven and I'm certain was highly volatile.

[redir]

I've used the Stew Mac cans to finish entire guitars and it worked quite well. I still use it for touch ups on repairs and I never have had a problem with it. Did you spray outside and was it very humid out? Are you spraying on thick coats?