The things that drive you nuts

[kiwigeo]

In the middle of french polishing an OM cutaway. French polishing with no problems on the body of the instrument. The headstock however is becoming a pain in the proverbial. For some reason after each bodying session there are numerous tiny pieces of lint embedded in the finish. I'm using lint free FP cloth I import from the US and Im using the same cloth on the body with absolutely no problems.

Im using hard shellac (Shines brand) and paraffin oil as a lubricant.

My only thought is that the tuner hole edges are pulling threads free from the fad. My next option is trying a lint free microfibre fabric as a cover on the muneca.

[Steve.Toscano]

Smooth over the tuner holes with a file or sandpaper. They can be rounded over quite a bit (covered by the washer).
Otherwise cut circles in binding tape about 2 - 3mm larger radius then the holes and cover them.
OR thirdly you can try the ear plug method (usually works well for spraying, unsure how it would go for FP).

For the record the last french polish fad i used was just sheet of 100% cotton from a local fabric supplier, cost me about $20 for 3 sq metres of the stuff. Works a treat. No lint.

[auscab]

It can be the dust floating around you that's causing the problem. A polisher told me about a negative ion charger in a polishing room many years ago . I never tried it . You have air conditioning as well which makes it worse .

http://negativeionizers.net/negative-and-positive-ions/

http://negativeionizers.net/best-negati ... r-reviews/


Rob

[kiwigeo]

Hi Rob,

The lint is definitely coming off the fad. Ive been working on the body of the instrument with the same fad and had absolutely no problems at all.

I'm pretty sure the problem is related to either the tuner hole edges pulling out lint from the fad cover. Ive got some Wonder Rags on order so I'll see how they go.

It can be the dust floating around you that's causing the problem. A polisher told me about a negative ion charger in a polishing room many years ago . I never tried it . You have air conditioning as well which makes it worse .

http://negativeionizers.net/negative-and-positive-ions/

http://negativeionizers.net/best-negati ... r-reviews/


Rob

[kiwigeo]

Yesterday I made plans to stick circles of binding tape over the holes.. I tried the ear plug method but its hard to get the top of the plug flush with the wood surface. Ive used old sheet but the regular weave can sometimes leave furrows in the finish. Ive been using trace cloth and muslin....the muslin seems to give slightly better results.

Smooth over the tuner holes with a file or sandpaper. They can be rounded over quite a bit (covered by the washer).
Otherwise cut circles in binding tape about 2 - 3mm larger radius then the holes and cover them.
OR thirdly you can try the ear plug method (usually works well for spraying, unsure how it would go for FP).

For the record the last french polish fad i used was just sheet of 100% cotton from a local fabric supplier, cost me about $20 for 3 sq metres of the stuff. Works a treat. No lint.

[kiwigeo]

Bugger the circles of binding tape.......half of them came off during a bodying session. Ive gone around each hole with a miniature file and have bevelled every hole. Once Ive leveled everything (again) I'll try a bodying session with bed sheet cotton.

The weird thing is Ive done lots of headstocks previously and never had a problem.

[kiwigeo]

Ok after much head scratching, soul searching and far too long spent staring through a jewellers loupe at the finish surface I've concluded the following:

1. The trace cloth Ive been using is fine on the body of an instrument but if theres any trace of a fibre sticking out fine fibres will get pulled out of the trace cloth. Ive changed to used bed sheet for headstock work.
2. The tuner holes were a bit rough around the edges. Lesson learned - run a miniature file around the hole followed by wet and dry wrapped around the file to smooth off any fibres.
3. The headstock is a Gore style straight string pull design which means there will always be grain running off the edge of the headstock at some point. Ive gone around the edges with a fine file followed by wet and dry. Ive also paid attention to pad direction...trying to ensure the pad is running off the edges in a direction thats less likely to catch fibres.

[Rod True]

In what I suspect is true Auzzie fashion...

download/file.php?mode=view&id=14660

[kiwigeo]

LOL.....

[kiwigeo]

Ive changed from paraffin oil to walnut oil to lubricate the pad. For some reason the paraffin oil was making the finish just that little bit more tacky that it was pulling fibres off the pad cover. Seems to be less of an issue with the walnut oil. I now that walnut oil tends to blend more with the shellac than paraffin.

[Allen]

I've been using olive oil for lubricating the pad Martin. Never pulls out fibres from the cotton sheet material that I'm using.

[kiwigeo]

I've been using olive oil for lubricating the pad Martin. Never pulls out fibres from the cotton sheet material that I'm using.

I was using walnut oil on last two builds but decided to try paraffin as alot of people seem to use it. I think Ive tried every oil there is now...and the walnut oil seems to be my choice of oils.