How to French polish your guitar. Video 5 of 9. 

James Rolph thanks

Carlos Casamayor Thanks, yes, I could build steel string acoustic guitar but I feel more inspired to make classical and flamenco guitars. I also teach guitar making courses. Www.guitarmakingcourse.org

edwin aponte gracias por tu comentario. Yo uso varias muñequillas, pero si, esta de este vídeo es la más grande que tengo. Si, el pulido lo vemos más adelante.

GuitarRasguado I apply oil only once and that should be sufficient. After you have done several sessions, if you feel that the rubber wants to stick and there is no vapor trail then you can add a bit more oil.

French polish is supposed to be glossy. You can make it matt by sanding it with very fine sandpaper 2400 or so. The problem is that in time the areas of the guitar where it rubs with your clothes will start to become shiny and it won’t look so good. You will have to keep sanding back and eventually the polish will be gone.

Hi John, I use oil only in the beginning as I did on the video and I don’t use any more until I feel that the vapor trail is gone or the surface is starting to get sticky. Best wishes

@@redkitekk So after a session you leave the guitar for several hours and start another session. Would you start off this new session with oil or would the oil from the previous session still be present on the surface?

John Keenan usually there is enough oil to polish in the following session, but the initial oil doesn’t last for ever so keep an eye on the vapor trail to know if you need to add more, also you don’t need to add too much, often just one drop is all you need to top it up.

costantino proietti I use this mix for the whole process

Leo Stark I use polishing oil I bought from a supplier years ago so I wouldn’t be able to tell you who it was I bought it from, but you can use any oil, as long as it is as clear as possible. Oil doesn’t affect the polish, is just helps to stop the rubber from sticking. At the end you have to remove all the oil to get the final gloss.

@@redkitekk Thank you so much!

Hi Mike, You don't need to remove all the existing polish, just cut back enough to remove scratches and to level up the surfaces and start polishing on top.

Thats one of the things I do first, it is a difficult area to polish so it doesn't get polished as nicely as the rest of the guitar. What I do is to apply polish on the slots with a brush carefully not to have runs going everywhere.

Hi Lewis, I have never used isopropanol so I can only recommend ethyl alcohol 96%

You can use both types. I use the cotton that doesn’t stretch, but I have seen people using the stretchy type as well. Your choice.

@@redkitekk thank you!

I have been doing my best to follow your instructions and a few days ago achieved a stunningly beautiful finish but there were some blemishes and points of dust as well as a couple of areas that looked dull. I continued to add polish but now have lost my finish and have areas that are very unattractive and appear thick and leathery. this is my first French policy on my first guitar. I think I need to sand it off and restart. What is your advice for not repeating this outcome? Thank you so much. Your videos are a delight to watch. You are such a master at your craft. thanks

@@ninefingerstudio9237 I think the problem is that you are working on applying the polish for too long. It is better to do shorter sessions more often. I still would do just one session per day. If you go on for too long you will end up melting the existing polish and you end up removing it. You need to melt the previous layer just enough to deposit the next layer so they end up amalgamating. You can remove blemishes just doing light sanding on the affected area. If you are going to remove the polish and start again I wouldn’t sand it away, I would first remove as much polish as possible with a cloth impregnated with alcohol. Once you have removed all the shellac you can use fine sandpaper to clean everything up and prepare to polish again.

@@redkitekk I appreciate your advice and time...thanks!

Andrea Forni what do you mean by “essence” ?

@@redkitekk Hi Pablo by essence I meant Wood !

Andrea Forni ok, the white lines I used for this guitar are made of sycamore.

@@redkitekk Ah great ! Nice choice, thanks a lot!

Harry Odum ebony is quite quick to polish, just polish until you get the result that you like.

@@redkitekk hello Pablo I'm sorry to bother you so much but since I've used the oil 3 drops by the way it's I'm using mineral oil. It seems to have a film on the wood you can see the shine really well under the film and then it gets kind of sticky I don't know if it's too much shellac or too much oil I'd only use three drops so I'm assuming Maybe it's the shellac should I add more alcohol or what do you think?

Harry Odum I wouldn’t use any more oil for now, allow the polish to dry in between sessions, and also make sure you shellac mix is right. I assume that you mixed it yourself instead of buying a ready mixed solution. I don’t know that I can suggest anything else.

@@redkitekk hello Pablo I mix the shellac myself yes. I'm a 2-pound cut color-wises it looks really well. I have strained shellac and mixed a separate container 50/50 mix with alcohol has a lot of shine to the wood. 15 minutes after applying the rubber I wipe it lightly with a cloth and it really shines great. brings to luster right up. Possibly I used too much oil to start I've cut back. But after I wipe the haze off of the wood which does have a oily feeling it shines really nice thanks for the help Pablo have a good day.

@@redkitekk hello Pablo I needed to change the cloth on my rubber it was getting kind of thin. So I put a new cloth on same material put on some shellac and alcohol formed it nice shape and with luck I started on the back of the head and immediately it took off the polish and got sticky. Too much alcohol too much shellac, too much oil I have no idea. But the rest of the guitar looks like there's a layer of Glass on it is beautiful. But now I am scared to death to touch any other part of the guitar. I must have 30-35 hours polishing..

Simone Camplani as the alcohol evaporates the shellac hardens, keeping the rubber in a jar will prevent it from drying being ready to use at any time.

@@redkitekk thanks!!!

Apply as many as you can and as soon as you notice that the rubber starts to stick use a few drops of oil.

@@redkitekk thanks a lot Pablo!

Hello Pablo, I did 2 sessions today with oil the second session seemed to leave some streaks (mainly the back)

zenk wong 7 or 8 hours

@@redkitekk Sorry, I mean in one session polish soundboard 4~5 times. How long will you wait between the two precudure?

zenk wong I start polishing the soundboard for a few minutes then the sides also for a few minutes then the back and finally the neck. Then I leave the guitar to dry for about 8 hours and then do it all over again.