French polishing questions

[taz01]

Anyone know of a short course in Sydney teaching the basics of FP.

The only one i could find in my area is from st George Community college but at midday every Monday it's not something i can get to.

Regards

Adam

[delbs]

Imagine how good a video series from Neil or someone equivalent based on the polishers handbook would be I’d buy that

Cheers
Nathan

[DJ’s Timber]

Imagine how good a video series from Neil or someone equivalent based on the polishers handbook would be I’d buy that

Cheers
Nathan

I’m on my iPad so cannot check to see if these links still work, as they won’t d/load. Anyway have a sticky beak here and see if they still work.

Neil's Ubeaut Finishing Video

[woodPixel]

I’m on my iPad so cannot check to see if these links still work, as they won’t d/load. Anyway have a sticky beak here and see if they still work.

Neil's Ubeaut Finishing Video

They sure do.

The forum needs a mini-youtube

[IanW]

....IanW, agree with the time-invested thing, but I've perfected all the other finishes and this is my last wild horse! Its also something that is easily done in my workshop (ahem, tiny balcony!).....

Not sayin' don't do it, WP, just pointing out it's one of those things that takes time, both to do a good job & to learn the quirks. Indeed, one of its attractions is it can be done just about anywhere.

Haven't tried coffee filters, but they should work. If the residue has settled well, you can carefully decant a goodly proportion of the liquid without needing a filter but filtering is safer, particularly if you don't have a steady hand. Haven't used coffee filters myself, but they should work.

Plain cotton pillow cases should be fine for wrappers...

Cheers,

[auscab]

Pajama or winter sheet flannelette is the good stuff for FP Rubber wrapping.

When you make rubbers, new ones are good for starting off but they get better with age. You keep them in a jar with a screw on lid and the old ones are better for finishing off a job . Its the use of the linseed oil that does it, it builds and stays in the rubber and that turns it into a slow fine release tool which is much better for finishing. Jack, the old polisher who worked for Dad showed me that.
I wonder if the other oils that get suggested for finishing do that ? I bet some of them don't.
Its the same thing you see how linseed oil dries around the Oil and turps jar. It covers it with a thick rubbery layer that builds over time into a huge amount that has to be cut off with a knife .
With the rubber, the wrapping material gets replaced time and time again. Some of my rubbers are easy ten or fifteen years old . A square sheet ends up being re positioned as holes wear in it until I cant find a spot without a hole in it any more. Then it needs a new rag.
New ones are rolled up when I have a job requiring a lot of bodying up and fast amounts of shellac put down . The old rubbers are no good at that. Cheesecloth is used for that and was its main use as far as I know . To wipe on fast coats of shellac. When its a large job a brush is to slow .

The whole idea of FP is not about laying on coats. Otherwise the spray gun would have finished off the idea of FP totally. Have you ever seen how just brushing it on layer over layer turns it into a mess and waste of shellac and time?


FP is about putting some on and working it sideways before its dried and hard but after its to soft and wet. Its the filling of the grain bringing that up and keeping the top low for the bodying stage that can take years to understand. Or never be understood. It has a lot to do with the timing of when you put it on and then when you work it . It can be done very quickly . Three or Four ten minute bursts with have a shoe box sized box done . The same Three or Four 20 minute bursts will have a side table done . Then its cut back flat and the finishing off final very thin layers are done with ever finer and much thinner shellac.

[woodPixel]

(grrr, retyped after a timeout)

I completely forgot to mention that IMS can also be obtained from Sydney Solvents. 5L is $14.95

Industrial Methylated Spirits IMS 5 Litre | Sydney Solvents

They also stock 20L and drums.

Delivery can be expensive though, so I get it with other nasties at the same time.

[surfdabbler]

Yep, that's where I bought mine in the end.

[surfdabbler]

Well, I'm finally calling the french polishing done. It's not perfect, but I could go forever.

A few things I learned on the way...

I switched from the t-shirt-like cotton material, and instead used an old pillow slip to wrap the pad. It was a high-thread-count cotton, and seemed to make a smoother finish than the stretchy t-shirt cotton.

I did try the Tripoli powder, but I'm sad to say that after many experiments, I have decided that Tripoli powder is not suitable for final buffing of French polish, as it claims. It seems to be quite an aggressive abrasive, and leaves the surface dull and scratched. In none of my tests did I get any sort of polished finish at all. I tried using it dry, mixed with wax or parrafin oil, different amounts of polish, different polish cloths, light pressure, hard pressure, and other variations. I tested it on french polish that had been left for a week to harden. I buffed and buffed for a long time, and it did not improve. I tried it over an already polished surface, and it just made it worse.

The best thing I found for the final polish was Scratch-X, which is a car polish. In my initial tests, it wasn't playing nicely with the shellac, but I found that with well-dried shellac, lightly wiping paraffin oil over the surface before polishing, and lubricating the polish with a drop of paraffin oil, it seemed to go quite well.

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