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I have several commercial touch up markers, not sure if any are Minwax. They are basically felt tip markers with a fancy name and price.

If this was my project, and a Sharpie didn't match closely...

http://www.frets.com/FretsPages/Luthier/TipsTricks/SteinwayKit/steinway.html
The Steinway touchup kit.

Color matching is a rather difficult skill, and for me, at least, it can be hit or miss.
Hobby stores often carry small containers of paint for model makers. A handful of those and some scrap to...

Yes, a better picture is in order here... but...
You mentioned lacquer, do you know the finish is nitrocellulose lacquer? (not varnish, catalyzed varnish/lacquer, waterborne, UV cure or some other...

Use wax, not soap. Soap is hygroscopic, causes the wood to draw moisture from the air, and rusts the screw.

For storage, just make sure that the relative humidity stays in a reasonable range; ideally, 40% to 50%, but practically, a wider range will be OK, especially on the higher end. Too dry is the worst....

Am I the only one who clicked on this thread expecting to see a mandolin built by Rolfe Gerhardt?

Time to move on.
If you can get a refund, great, but that would be a challenging repair for someone with little experience and not really worth your time. A pro could fix it, but as you say, the...

Easiest thing to do is just replace it with something like...

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From my observations of similar mandolins, I think Gibson had some tops on hand from before the elevated fingerboard days. It looks like they cut top wood away until they could use an elevated 'board...

No, too much risk of finish damage, and also not needed. Sometimes they have to be left in the torture rack until they respond, but usually they just push back reasonably well into place. With my...

Just because I haven't posted anything here for a while, here's one of the things I'm working on.
The mahogany that this neck blank is made from is not wide enough for a peghead. This guitar is to...

Gibson's trademarks are not really the "issue" with lots of people, it is the companies' heavy handed tactics related to such.
C F Martin has trademarks too. The "rectangular" peghead being one of...

With guitar builds I fret after gluing the board to the neck and setting the neck in the body, with mandolins I fret the 'board before gluing to the neck/extender.
I can't really give you a reason...

While I think of my instrument making as being only slightly "art", there are those who tell me I'm an artist and consider my work to be art. Not an uncommon situation for someone who does this sort...

I read a book quite a few years ago. I wasn't overly impressed with the book (and much less with another in the series that i gave up on), but it made me think of art, what art is, what art is not,...

Loosening the gear screw creates added clearance at the tuner plates and makes turning easier, but it also causes lost screws and gears. Loosening the gear screws is a "quick and dirty" way to...

I have a gouge or two with missing ferrules and since I don't drive them hard with a mallet they're fine.
If the handle with remove easily and you can find copper or brass the right size, you could...

That is correct, as long as the string is the same material and diameter.
Experiments have been done regarding after-length (distance from bridge to tailpiece) and break-over angle, and as far as I...

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Some are in better shape than others due to past use and abuse. I don't need museum pieces for cutting wood.

These came from various sources, flea markets mostly, and are of various brands.
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Here are the "old" gouges that I use regularly. I have a few others that I use that are newer, and I have some more old ones that I don't use, but these are the 'antiques' that I find most useful. I...

Almost all of my gouges are old with the exception of 2 custom made ones (one of them is good, the other doesn't live up to it's supposed quality) and some small carvers gouges that I bought new...

The top and back may not be coupling well. If, as you say, the top is thin, then the back may be too thick to work well with the top. You might be able to thin the back (requiring, of course,...

A++?
To me, I've heard maybe 5 or 10 mandolins that I would grade as A++, and none of them were moderately priced factory instruments (although some are rather old factory instruments that were...