French Polishing for the complete beginner  

Very interesting video, thank you. You mentioned water marks can be a problem on French -polished surfaces. I learned a trick to remove rings caused by drinking glasses or tea cups from a piano restorer. Simply mix half a teaspoon of olive oil with the ash from a cigarette until you have a smooth paste. Rub this mixture on the ring for a few minutes with a soft cloth and the white marks will disappear.

SUPER video. I LOVE french polish finishes. As you say - deep, smooth, glossy. It is delicate to alcohol and water but it is the most beautiful finish you can get. AND it is fairly easy to repair. You do have to be able to buff with feel.

Awesome, I needed a reminder as its been 30 years since I last did this. There are 2 things I remembered that might help you that I was shown; 1, warm the wood on a windowsill or with a hair dryer before first coats. 2, apply first coat and immediately work the wood with fine wire wool (3 or 4 times). wipe down then brush in 3-4 coats and then do what you did. I cheat on gun stocks, I use Tru-Oil. Thank you for posting

You just skipped one step that is mandatory to obtain the glossy - and glass like - finish of French Polish : you MUST fill the wood pores, either with fine pumice, or with pore filling lacquer. You should try, you will get a very different result that will amaze you! Pore filling is boring, but easier than varnishing. So I have no doubt that you can achieve a professionnal result with a bit of practice. Keep on the good work! Greetings from France.

I use butchers bowling alley wax on wood surfaces that are going to have items resting on them like flower pots, mantel pieces etc. If you can drop a bowling ball on wax and not dent. Easy to apply. Can do 4 or 5 coats a hr. I never use poly, too thick,smelly and its used for cheaper woods.

Just a small addition: 200 ml alcohol is not 200 grams. The specific weight of alcohol is about 0.79 and that means that when you use a scale, you should use slightly less than 160 grams of alcohol for 40 grams of shellac. Maybe not a big deal anyway. I am not yet a french polisher.

Time wise.. many other finishes take a LOT more time due to the long dry/cure times. A good french polish can be a few hours and done due to the very fast dry times.

Sorry, another one I remembered, when it gets sticky we had pre-made made beeswax and paraffin goop to de-sticky the work, thank you once again. (I just subscribed)

For wood surfaces that are going to be used continuesly (fireplace mantel,tables etc i use bowling alley wax. Doesnt dent best maybe 10 coats. You can apply let sit for 10 minutes, buff with dry cloth repeat until desired effect. Must remember the oil seaps in the wood pores. Can apply over paint, wooden cabinets. Not as much sheen as french polish which is mainly applied to antiques that are for show only. The wax has a nice smell too compared to poly(I never use or lacquer. Polyurethan and lacquer finishes are for cheaper woods.

What a lovely finish!

Really useful video, thank you

I have watched this vid 3 times now (yes - I might be slow). But I have picked up more detail each time, like the shellac mix only lasts about 6 months and then goes sticky so that you can't sand it.... This happened to me. Many thanks for the tips. This is really informative and needs to be looked at over again for the best detail... I'll be back for more learnings :)

Very helpful thank you

❤ just what I needed

Awesome thanks

probably going to give this a try, trying to refinish a table I was given

A really useful video. How many hours of actual work would you say it took for that table?

I was tought to use silica powder (Kisel) for the 3 final buffs. Just work a tiny amount into your pad and start working. It actually makes the surface a bit more resilient and to sone extent fills the pores. Still does not like a warm coffee mug 😳

Very nice video, any chance you could discuss about black french polish? I have a piano I would like to repair the finish. Thanks!

Really useful

Great video thanks

Thanks for the tips! I've been reading around a bit and wonder about two options: have you tried a grade of shellac called "button lac" instead? (never tried this myself) Also, for my first shellac project I used isopropyl alcohol instead of denatured ethanol. Seemed to work well, but do you know if there are any positives vs negatives?

Hi How do you remove small rubber marks from a antique French polished burr walnut table my partner put a plant pot in it which had 3 rubber pads Thanks

I always avoided shellac because I had been taught to believe it was a finish that was used by people when they didn’t have the technology of polyurethane. Then I was trying to get a serious “piano” finish. Everywhere I looked I kept hearing the same answer. Shellac and French polish. I was stunned by the results of my first attempt!

How did the small piece of wood suddenly become a table top? Seriously though, what did you spray the pad with for the polish near the end?

Hi! I've been having a problem of stickiness after my 4th layer of shellac applied with foam brush, and it's a stickyness that never dries. What could be the issue here? I'm using a one pound cut. Thanks.

What did you spray on the pad before the final polish? Thanks for the video!

Found it very difficult to understand what you were saying when you weren't facing the camera but could see what you were doing.

Very informative, thanx, is there a way to french polish and maintain the original color of the wood?

I have a Dining Room table which has a veneer top. There are white blemishes where somebody has placed something hot on the top of the table. Assuming the coating is French Polish, how can this blemish be taken out blending in the repair to the original finish or does the whole top need a final coat to level out the table top surface? How do you remove the old French Polish completely and refinish the table top with French Polish. The table top being a veneer, I am reluctant to sand the surface since I may go through the veneer. I have previously restored a solid Blackwood dining table made around 1880 that had been poorly refinished. Rather than have a soft finish which is easily marked by every day use, the table was stripped to bare timber, the cupped table top boards flattened, brush coated in a two pack clear Urethane, block sanded flat and buffed using a sponge mop on a disc polisher using an automotive cutting compound which exposed the colour and grain of the timber. The table was stripped 3 times to bare timber as the previous finish bled through the Urethane. I am very wary of finishes where you cannot tell through the layers of stain and poor refinishing, what was used.

Another note if you want incredible flatness. After building a up the first 3-5 coats, sand with 800 grit wet paper on a sanding block, and lubricate with mineral spirits. The spirits will clean up any of the residual oils you used, and will keep the paper from clogging with shellac. Wipe clean, then polish your next layer. You can use this high grit/OMS lubricant between coats from here on out. Caution! This will result an an extremely flat and glossy finish, think piano.

You need to be careful using steel wool on raw oak. Oak, ash and elm contain tanic acid that can leave rust spots on the wood. Small pinhole dark spots.

I'm trying to polish my antique Vienna Wall clock case that has various degree of curvatures and slits. Trying to figure out on how do I go about those crevices to make sure I cover every inch of the wood case 🥺

What oil do we use?

For a wide surface….say a piano lid….would you think that spraying the first coats on to build up the initial surface, is a logical way to start?

Thanks for the Video, straight to the detail, I appreciate that. a couple of questions - what did you spray in the pad in the final step? does the colour from the meth's affect the shellac colour?

hey one last question. I put the first coats of shellac onto the wood but in silhouette (i hope this is the right term im not english xD) are visible signs left by the pad, which are now hardened..what am i doing wrong? I tried diluting the mix but it keeps happening..should i add even more alcohol?

My Irish mother in law bought me Douglas brand "brown french polish" not sure if this will work, I've never seen it, Im from Canada never seen it before.

I read somewhere that isopropyl alcohol or culinary alcohol can be used, but elsewhere suggested denatured / methylated alcohol. What's your advice on using these solvents?

Hi, I have some old chess pieces where the wood has got grubby in places as the polish has worn through. I don't mind the polish wear, as the patina is good, BUT where that has got too grubby, what can I do to refinish just bits of the pieces - can I sand the wood back in those places, or bleach a bit and polish, or just polish over the top of the grubbiness. Normally I'd use some alcohol to clean, but this won't work with French polish. I normally then wax over the top at the end, but I'm not sure of a solution for this.

Do you have to brush it on first?

Thank you kindly, much appreciated! May I ask: for FP of my guitar. I might better have mixed new shellac, it being much older than three months, but the result is splendid, and I work with comparatively dry cloths, and many layers. Will old shellac tend only to stick, like you said, or will I also risk getting a softer result? Me being a bit worried now, having put in months of work here.

This is why i love 2k clear coats, cured, sanded, sprayed again, repeat til its a piece of glass ... and it goes rock hard especially for something being used regularly

Yep, I do all that but when I'm satisfied with the shine, I give the surface a coat of spray varnish with something like Cabothane. Stops glasses from leaving a water mark. French polish is also a good undercoat for varnish.

Would you use this same process on a vintage sewing machine? Thanks

Hi there just wanted to know can the wood be stained before polishing?

What is the "flake"? I'm starting from the start, all i kow is sanding and varnishing

Hello! If I dilute shellac in pink colored alcool, will it affect the color of the finish?

I need some advice, we have a yacht with a dividing partition on one side is a water damaged highly polished wooden finish that has a 70cm x 7cm water damaged area, the whole panel is 180x110cm and lines up with another panel across a doorway! The source of the water damage is resolved but I want to repair the damaged area, how do I repair this?

Interesting your 2 pound cut is thinner than America 2 pound cut.

Meths

I have started to have a go at French polishing, and for some reason I can’t seem to get it as gloss as your finish, it comes out dull. I have tried different cuts, 1lb 2lb but still no luck. Any advice?

Diki: is it not necessary to sand down the wood, before staining

Do you use de-waxed or natural shellac?

Hi , how can i make french polish to satin finish????

Yes you must use filler

To avoid the blue coloration in the Alcohol, put it in the sun for a day or two... It will be transparent after that.

can it be put onto waxed wood?,cheers