French polishing: first attempt

[Butch Edwards]

Gentlemen, for those of you who've performed this technique successfully, I now appreciate your achievements. I read and re-read articles on "how-to" French Polish. I,in no way, consider myself anything but an beginner,whne it comes to shellac. After deciding that ragging varnish is about all I've ever done, in terms of finishing,I decided to forego the brush and grab the linen cloth. I must ask,however, a few questions on the technique if I may...
is it possible to remove the ever so subtle "ridges" left from the applied coat ? will light sanding be required? I'm using a 2 lb cut, and have applied 3 coats,allowing the finish to dry(not cure) between coats. I also have had to dab a touch of BLO on the tampon as well after 1st coat.
another ??... how much alcohol will I have to add to the 2 lp cut to make it a 1 lp cut( 1/2 pint remains)? if 8 oz is used for 1 pint of 2#, shouldn't I add 8 more to the remaining shellac to make it 1# ???

Thanks in advance for your attention to this matter, and as best I can figure, French Polishing is equal to spit-shining boots in the Army...same swirling motion to achieve a shine!!:confused:

[Scott Holmes]

It sounds to me that you are actually attempting to "pad" shellac. The "French polish" technique uses pumice as the the abrasive to fill the grain while "padding" shellac.

No need to sand; you may not be padding properly. Shellac 2# cut is best to pad.

Shellac should go in the applicator not on the outside as some suggest. As the shellac starts to build you should reduce the amount of shellac and incrase the DNA.

Instead of BLO I would suggest mineral oil as your lubricant.

Here's a link from a friend (Steve Mickley) of mine's web site that explains it in great detail...

Go to www.hardwoodlumberandmore.com (http://www.hardwoodlumberandmore.com/) then click on classroom, then finishing, then scroll down to shellac and click on that , the list of shellac articles are at the bottom.

[Butch Edwards]

It sounds to me that you are actually attempting to "pad" shellac. The "French polish" technique uses pumice as the the abrasive to fill the grain while "padding" shellac.

No need to sand; you may not be padding properly. Shellac 2# cut is best to pad.

Shellac should go in the applicator not on the outside as some suggest. As the shellac starts to build you should reduce the amount of shellac and incrase the DNA.

Instead of BLO I would suggest mineral oil as your lubricant.

Here's a link from a friend (Steve Mickley) of mine's web site that explains it in great detail...

Go to www.hardwoodlumberandmore.com (http://www.hardwoodlumberandmore.com/) then click on classroom, then finishing, then scroll down to shellac and click on that , the list of shellac articles are at the bottom.

Thank you for the link..

[Jerry Olexa]

Steve Mickley is the absolute BEST at this. Its very important to use a lubricant such as mineral oil. Also, the thickness of the finish is not important. Its the blending of the shellac and DA and the swirls that produce the sheen....French polishing takes it to another level with the addition of pumice, etc