Replies

1. 
   stantheman | Mar 18, 2007 07:34pm | #1

   How long are you waiting for shellac to dry?  My attempts at french polishing have only been moderately successful, but seems like it takes a while (2-3 days?) for all the oil to surface.  I am sure other shellac-ers will have better answer.

1. 
   allenb | Mar 18, 2007 08:00pm | #2

   I have been waiting about 24 hrs.  It seems the shellac is dry enough.  I really think I'm getting pad marks.

   Thanks,

1. 
   Rich14 | Mar 18, 2007 11:06pm | #3

   Allen, There is so much about french polishing technique and padding technique that is hard to fully describe. There are many little details, all which must be right. I have many suggestions. First, a 1# cut is too thin for the initial "body" coats. How are you applying these first few coats? I find that such a dilute shellac mixture takes up as much shellac as it lays down. Brush on 2 2# cuts. Gently level that with 320 grit which will get the peaks of shellac ridges and laps marks and "mountains" but still leave some "valleys. Then completely abrade the surface with 4-0 steel wool until you have a uniform soft matte surface to the finish. Your pad should not be a loose affair. It needs to be made much like the "rubber" used for real french polishing. Use a very clean, finely woven cotton fabric such as a hankerchief or T shirt. Don't use linen or anything with polyester. Wrap that around an inner core of most any kind of cotton cloth to form an egg-shapped pad slightly smaller than the palm of your hand. The outer wrap must have no creases or seams. You hold it so that the applicator surface stays taught around the inner core. Add 1-2# cut shellac to the inner core only. The outer wrap serves as a kind of filter. If you add shellac to the outer surface, you'll have flecks of shellac eventually there that will cause streaks. Add only the tiniest drop of mineral oil or linseed oil to the core. It helps lubricate, but it should not really be a factor so much that you have to remove oil with mineral spirits. As your applicator becomes dry, add only alcohol to it a few times and keep polishing, until no more shellac seems to be moving off the pad onto the wood. The surface should always appear to glisten as though wet and highly polished (it is) and that look should not change at all. Sorry if there are no paragraph breaks in this message. The Taunton software and my browser (Firefox, Mac OS X) periodically behave strangely. Rich

1. 
   allenb | Mar 19, 2007 12:49am | #4

   Thanks Rich

   I'm going to try some of your suggestions.  I have suspected that I am using to much oil.  I think slowly switching over to alcohol may be the solution here as I am always afraid to move to the alcohol as I believe this is going to mess everything up.

     I'll let you know how it's going.

   Thanks again,

1. 
   Rich14 | Mar 19, 2007 02:28am | #5

   Allen, Adding alcohol, even using a pad with nothing but alcohol is the least problematic thing you can do. Alcohol is the way to reduce the problems you're having. Whenever things seem to be going wrong, such as the finish piling up or streaking. Stop, let it harden, then correct things with alcohol. Rich

2. 
   allenb | Mar 20, 2007 05:41am | #9

   I think I'm getting pretty close.  I have attached a couple of pictures but it's hard to get a good photo of a finish.  Thanks for the help.

   
3. 
   Keef | Mar 20, 2007 05:51am | #11

   Allen,

   Very, very nice result.  Your finish looks great!

   KB

4. 
   Kevin | Mar 20, 2007 08:36am | #12

   Nice work, Allen. That first pic looks like the wood is glowing. Pretty hard to ask for more than that out of a finish.

5. 
   Rich14 | Mar 20, 2007 03:40pm | #14

   Allen, I agree with the others that the finish in those pictures looks good. Keep practicing. Eventually french polishing becomes a "muscle memory" skill and you'll be able to get the finish to go down almost no matter how you prepare your materials. The shellac has to know that you know how to do it. Once that happens no matter what you do works. I once did a small repair job using paper towels for the rubbing pad! Rich

6. 
   jeanlou | Mar 19, 2007 05:47am | #6

   Good advice from Rich, Allen.

   The other thing you need to watch for is never to stop moving the pad while it is in contact with the work surface. You apply it on the fly, so to speak, and you remove it the same way.  JL

7. 
   allenb | Mar 19, 2007 06:31am | #7

   Rich's advice is very good as is your's about not stopping the pad.  I have the oil on the inside of the covering now and the amount of oil reduced to just a couple of drops.  It seems to be working very nicely.  The oil was masking the surface so much I couldn't see what was happening.  Now I can see it building and smoothing out on the surface.  A huge revelation and a giant leap forward for me.  Tomorrow I will start finishing it off with the addition of more alcohol and finish with a clean alcohol rub.  I think this is going to work.

   Thanks,

8. 
   jeanlou | Mar 20, 2007 02:06am | #8

   Allen

   Isn't it exciting when it all comes together?!  JL

9. 
   allenb | Mar 20, 2007 05:42am | #10

   I just posted a couple of pictures if your interested.

   Thanks for helping out.

10. 
    jeanlou | Mar 20, 2007 01:41pm | #13

    Allen

    The warm glow in your pics make it all worth the effort. It is the cherry on the sundae. Good work.  JL