For arbitrary and capricious reasons (mostly laziness, I suspect), I elected to use tung oil to finish the cabinetry. I mostly wiped it on with a lint-free cloth. This first picture shows the difference the tung oil makes on the wood. Since the Flemish harpsichords I built had painted cabinets, I was totally inexperienced with finishing nice wood, so I was really surprised at how much the tung oil darkened up the cherry.
Here I am applying tung oil to the clavichord stand.
This next shot shows the various parts of the lid which are drying. I took extra care to avoid getting the oil on those areas of the lid's frame that will be glued. The center panel needs to float with the humidity and is not glued into place, but is simply held by the lid's frame. Since I have no way of truly knowing if the center panel is fully dry or not, the possibility exists for it to shrink in size a little, thus exposing more of its unglued edges. By finishing the entire center panel before assembling it with the fourth side of the lid's frame, I will prevent an unstained edge from appearing should the wood ever shrink. Look at that glow!
Here's a little fine brushwork on the soundboard molding. I stuck down two widths of masking tape on the soundboard in case I got a little sloppy. I removed the tape very quickly after the second coat of tung oil was applied to prevent any sticky residue from making itself too comfortable on the soundboard.
Two coats did the job with a 24-hour drying period in between. The second coat took about half the time of the first coat. Tung oil sure stinks, but I'm really pleased with the results.
