A French Polish question

[Chalks]

Hey Guyz and Girlz.

While Nick was doing his water based tobacco bust I was having a go as well. I am a lot slower though and only get a couple of hours each week to do anything. Anyway I am using a hard shellac finish. I have spent about two hours each session by two session on the back and neck only so far. I intend to do a total of five session all over. My questions are:
Is that enough to provide a decent finish?
Having never done this before and my limited research hasn't provided this answer; Do you cut it lightly after the finish session has gassed off and then polish?
If so, is Miquires polish appropriate and safe for this process.

See the photo for the current status for any assistance.

Thanks for any help in this.

[DaveW]

Hi Chalks
I dont actually have any procedure but
I do about 5 x laying down the shellac and polishing then sand
with fine paper ,about 1500 grit ,this levels the surface just like spiriting off,every couple of polishing sessions I then spirit off the normal way
then more laying and polishing ,I would guestimate I do this 5 times, I actually dont have any set procedure just seems to be whatever takes my fancy at the time ,thats one of the many beauties of french polishing ,well to me anyway
as I find the process incredibly relaxing it doesnt seem to take a long time ,I would say I probably spend 2 hours each on the back ,sides and top
as for the Meguiers I have some ,I think its the swirl remover and the nos 9 but would have to check and it works ok
only problem is if you havent done a perfect sanding job you get little white bits which are very hard to get rid of
Dave

[ozziebluesman]

G'day Chalks,

I French Polish all my guitars as a finish. Many ways to do this mate! If you just want to seal the guitar and have a bit of a protection four sessions would be ok. I know a few very good musicians that prefer that as the very thin finish leaves the guitar to be able to vibrate freely as it should. But four sessions won't protect against dings. For a more protective finish you will need more sessions. I usually do five, four hour sessions on my builds where I do around the guitar four times per session. Sand between each session with 600 grit. The last few times I go around the guitar I use the airplane technique )landing and taking off) and apply the shellac very liberal. I use dry flakes mixed to a 4 pound cut and add metho with application from two syringe's which gives me a two pound cut roughly. Leave dry for five weeks usually and then I sand to a satin finish with 600 grit and final polish with 1200.

Hard shellac out of the bottle is about a eight pound cut and I will stand correction on that statement. I have use it back kefroe the new formula become available. My results where not so good so I went back and will stay with the very blonde flakes available for LMI.

Many ways to do this.

Cheers

Alan

[kiwigeo]

Hard shellac out of the bottle is about a eight pound cut and I will stand correction on that statement. I have use it back kefroe the new formula become available.

I'm pretty sure its a 4lb cut....cut it in half for build sessions, cut it a little more for glazing sessions.

Number of bodying up sessions......5 should be adequate. I' m anal and do up to 20.

Cutting back vesus spiriting off. Ive concluded that spiriting off is a skill I struggle to master so I tend to cut back. I use 900 grade wet and dry with walnut oil for lubrication. be careful you dont cut right back to bare wood and get oil into same.

Macguires No 9 swirl remover is fine for final polishing. I usually leave the guitar for at least a couple of weeks before applying the polish.

[nnickusa]

Looks nice Chalks. Are you mixing coloured shellacs, or tinting the shellac?

[Kev3]

I'm with Martin - think the hard shellac is just shy of a 4lb cut from the bottle.
I've only used it the once. Cut it 50/50, then diluted it probably as much again on the pad at the start (two eye dropper bottles, one for the shellac and one for ethanol). Didn't seem to need any oil, so no spiriting. Simply thinned it right out toward the end sessions. Didn't really count the sessions, but at least 10 or so, just kept going 'till it felt about right - main thing I had in mind was to keep each application real light.
Left it ca. 3 weeks. Had more than enough gloss for me by then - so didn't polish either. Only been on for ca 5 or 6 months now in a non air conditioned house in the tropics, but still real sweet. Happily use it again.

[Chalks]

Thanks Alan, Nick, Dave and Kevin. Great feedback. I'll go for a while longer maybe 8 or 10 sessions. Rub it with some 800 grit wet n dry between and let it gas off for a month.

Nick I stained with water based and am now just using the hard shellac cut from the bottle at a 1:1 ratio.

Layed it on using nice extra virgin olive oil, wife was a little peeved but hey...... First session went on well and it is kind of relaxing. I can think about other things. Maybe a stick dulcimer just for fun. Or an acoustic bass guitar or another archy or a....... So much so little time.

Thanks again. Hopefully when I am any good at this building thing and don't feel intimidated by my lack lack of knowledge, only done 6 and never tried to sell one, I will be able to put in and not just take out.

Chalks

[kiwigeo]

Re oil. I've tried different oils and have found walnut oil works for me.....it tends to blend with the shellac to a large degree so there's usually not alot oil to be spirited off.

[ernieman]

Don't know if it really adds something, but I've already tried this with success.
For laying on the base coat (after pore filling!), I use a broad brush (soft haired) and dip it into fairly heavy cut shellac (not sure what the ratio was, sorry). then apply it in even strokes until you've covered the whole thing. This lays a nice basecoat. You need to let it dry a bit longer than usual, maybe apply 2 coats, if preferred. After that you can start on applying shellac with a cloth (?) turning figure-8s and using a more thinner cut shellac to even out the finish.
I've never used sandpaper in between different coats...
But as already said, there are so many ways to do a shellac coating...