By then the finish had begun to soften enough to "sag" a bit in some areas. I mean, it was REALLY soft and sticky everywhere on the neck. I can't overstate how sloppy the finish looked or how much amalgamator I had loaded on there!
Can you see the little run starting right at the point of the arrow?
I turned the neck over and over for a while to help keep the runs from forming, but eventually I got tired and put it away to "dry."
Still the blisters were clearly visible.
The next morning, however, things had really cleared up. ALL of the blisters had sunk right back to the wood, and the finish looked clear all over.
Even after 12 hours of drying, the finish was really sticky. It still hadn't dried even to be "dust free." The finish had sagged and begun to run a bit over the rounded areas of the neck shaft, but I figured anything was better than all those blisters.
Three days later, the finish became hard enough to level by sanding with some 220 grit paper. I sanded the finish and sprayed on some clear lacquer to start to fill the voids left where the finish had originally come off.
After a couple of weeks and a few more coats of clear lacquer, block sanding to level and rubbing out, the finish looks almost as though it had never been damaged:
I think the most important feature of this technique is that it makes possible the reclaiming of an old finish without the expense of stripping, restaining, reapplying a decal, and refinishing. The purpose is not to make the instrument appear as though it still had its original undamaged finish, but to keep this fine instrument protected and looking good.