French Polish - Who Knows The No No's

[n8rofwyo]

The basis of this question it two fold. First I absolutely expect to invest some time in the process and am not an impatient person, however I would like some input from someone that has actually done it. Secondly I would love any info on what oils can be added to the shellac to lubricate it without really affecting the natural "orangeing" of the shellac itself. TIA. Nate Robinson

[Myka Guitars]

I have finished a couple guitars this way. The best shellac to get it in flake form. You mix it into denatured alcohol to make the shellac. It has a 6 month (or less) shelf life. The ratio I use goes like this: take a jar (any size). Add 1" of shellac flakes. Then cover the flakes with alcohol and fill it past the flakes 1" more (from the bottom you fill the alcohol 2" deep including the 1" of flakes). It makes a consistent mixture for french polishing. I use 100" pure organic walnut oil. What I have read is that it actually becomes part of the shellac and is in fact integral to its strength since the walnut oil dries hard. I use is fairly liberally for lubricating the cotton pad. One tip I can give you it make sure that whenever the pad is on the wood it is moving. If you stop even briefly it sticks. The finish is softer but the look is incredible. I love the way shellac brings out the grain.

LMI has good shellac flakes.

I hope this helps.

~David

[n8rofwyo]

So you are talking about a roughly 6lb cut on the shellac, as I understand. But how much walnut oil are you adding to your cut Myka?

[n8rofwyo]

Whoops double posted, sorry.

[Doc]

I've done a fair amount of French polishing over the last thirty years.

I use olive oil which is what most European polishers have used for the last couple of hundred years or so.

I think that a six pound cut is way to heavy. I don't even use a one pound cut to polish. I do use a little heavier, two or three pound cut for the ground coat.

I'd find a supplier for Behlen's shellac and use the grade appropriate for your desired end color.

You don't mix the oil directly with the shellac. I have a small bottle with a cork in it. I've cut about an 1/8" v shaped notch in it and drizzle just a touch of the oil directly on the surface while I'm working.

Look up back issues of Fine Woodworking magazine. They've run some really great illustrated articles on how to do this type of finishing. Also google the web and search this site. There are a couple of good, easy to follow tutorials.

[Drak]

I guess you guys don't dewax your shellac for FP?

I don't FP, but I do shoot shellac occasionally, and I dewax the crap out of it, several times usually, until -no- wax is left at all and it is -completely- transparent, but maybe not necessary for FP-ing...

[dash]

another thing i have found using shellac (ive only used it a couple of times), is that it is good to strain it before you use it, just so you get any undisolved flakes out of the mixture. (i learnt the hard way and had to sand the shelf unit i made back to bare timber).

i just stole a pair of my wife's stockings, cut them up and decanted it from one container to another. she wasn't amused!!

[n8rofwyo]

Thanks for the tip on the olive oil, Doc. I'll run a few experiments to see if I can develope a feel for it.

[Doc]

One of the reasons to use Belens is that it hardly has any wax or any bug parts or bark in it, where a lot of the generic stuff has all of the above. It's a good idea to filter any finish before you use it .

[n8rofwyo]

Kinda makes ya wonder though... what circumstance led that first guy to add bug crap to alcohol, let alone smear it on a piece of furniture. I have to hope it was an accident, otherwise...

[Southpa]

Here is the proper way to do French polishing which also includes the use of pumice as a grain filler for open grained woods like mahogany and ash. I might give it a go on the next mahogany guitar I build.

Edited May 8, 2005 by Southpa

[n8rofwyo]

Southpa, you are the man!! This is excellent material, thanks so much for bringing this into the thread.

[GregP]

Bookmarked!

Oddly enough, even though it's a harder process, the thought of doing this is less intimidating to me than using spray equipment (or worse-- a brush!). It meshes with my comfort at doing things in very small areas bit at a time.

Greg

[Setch]

FYI Bob Milburn (who wrote the FP tutorial above) now grainfills with epoxy instead of pumice. There seems to be a whole shedload of folks who have been converted to epoxy grain filling, and I can understand why - it's very easy to do, and get great results.