French Polish??

[Jim Baker]

Mario, I'll have a look at the methyl hydrate at Home Depot. Do you know if there is a precentage of water in it?

[Mario Proulx]

It's pure. I have a alcohol hygrometer and it tests at 95%ABV every time. Can't get higher % alcohol than that without driers/desiccants, which would be pointless anyhow since alcohol is hygroscopic and will pull water from the air to bring itself back to 95% in no time. Home Depot, Home Hardware, even truck stops will have it(air line antifreeze).

The reason the LV FP is only available in Canada is because they can't ship flammable products across the border, same as we can't buy similar items from StewMac, LMI, and other US sources from here.

[Jim Baker]

The "French Polish" product is indeed Qualasole by Behlen. You can see the label through the Lee Valley label.

[Jim Baker]

I tried this stuff on a left over piece of spruce top. It is like very thin water. As per instructions I applied a coat with a cottom pad. It dissapeared as though it was never there.
It says on the bottle "can be applied to new wood or over old finish". Also says " thin as much as 50% for application on bare wood".

I applied it to a test piece to which I had previously applied several coats of shellac. I was expecting some sort of shine, but all I got was a dull haze. I'll apply more tomorrow and see what happens.
Perhaps I don't understand "French Polish". I've watched several videos and read numerous articles. Guess I haven't paid enough dues yet.

[Dale Ludewig]

Where's your Polish speaking community? I live 60 miles west of Chicago which has the largest Polish community, for a city, other than Warsaw. I didn't know there was a large Polish community up your way. Interesting. Many people from Poland here and friends over there. Some of the nicest people I've ever met. Their architecture is incredible. Here's a funny: my first visit to Warsaw- we were going to meet some friends by the "Dolphin" statue fountain. It was out of order because of reconditioning. Our friends met us by the fountain, water or not, and (I swear this is true) within two muniutes a pigeion flew over my head and while my friends watched it pooped on my head! They said that was a sign of good luck.

[Jim Baker]

[8ch(pl)]

Gee Dale, there's Polish people everywhere in Canada. I was really just playing on words though.

[Mario Proulx]

Jim, it's been said before, but, French polish is a process, not a product. What you have in the bottle is shellac, alcohol, oil, and some preservatives. It's up to you to now turn this into French polish. Oh, you will need more oil and alcohol for this process, too.

It's not a finish where we simply wipe a product onto wood; it's an entire process, and it will not "build" like a varnish does, so don't expect it to. Get yourself a nice flat board, say, a 2 foot section of a smooth, clean 2x10 or something similar. Sand it very level and to a very fine grit(320 or higher, I go to 500), then, after reading all you can about french polishing, begin working on this board. Expect to work up a sweat, or at least get warm, expect your hand and/or fingers to be sore. It's that involved. expect to have to try a bit more oil, and then expect that you'll have found you used too much at some point, which is okay, since you'll use the pure alky to remove the excess oil. Expect to use very little of the LV product, and plenty of elbow grease And in the end, you'll understand what a person means when they say that a french polisher is born, not made. Some will "get it", some won't.

[Jim Baker]

Thanks Mario. I've already started with a piece of spruce. I've done 4 applications so far and it's beginning to build up a bit. Perhaps by the time I have 10 or more applications done I will begin to develop a method. I'll keep you posted.

[Mario Proulx]

Yep, it takes time and many sessions(what we call them, rather than applications), but if the mix is fresh, it should be dry pretty much as you';re going, so you can do the equivalent of 10 sessions in one round, really; just go at it until you get bored or your arm/elbow/shoulder gets tired.

There's a good reason many of us have come up with "cheater" french polish systems . But you should first get the real method under you before reinventing it. Besides, you are using the store bought stuff, so it's not like you can make up a thicker batch. Yet another reason to mix your own later-on.

[Rob Grant]

FWIW...I'm just laying down an F.P. finish on a new flattop.

To me the oil is strictly the "lubricant" in the process. It keeps the fad from sticking and keeps a bit of "slipperiness" in the fad movement. I generally remove any excess oil after a run by rubbing the instrument surface with a clean, dry, absorbant cloth. Some use naptha to remove the surface oil. An old mate use to briskly rub the surface with softwood sawdust. Generally the lubrication oil is forced to the surface like oil on water. I don't think I'd use straight alcohol to remove excess oil, you could soften the freshly laid down surface. Although, I think, this is what the old timers call "spiriting off."

Here's a photo of the first "coat"...

[Mandolin Mick]

Everytime I see this thread, the first thing I think is "My mother's side is French & my father's side is Polish!"

We have a VERY large Polish community here in Milwaukee. My great-grandparents were from Poland, my grandparents spoke fluent Polish and around me when they didn't want me to understand them ... but I did My father delivered a Polish newspaper (Currier Polski), and my parents used Polish phrases as part of their everyday speech, and I still do! My kids are the first generation (from my father's side) that don't speak Polish!

[slausonm]

Thanks Mario. I've already started with a piece of spruce. I've done 4 applications so far and it's beginning to build up a bit. Perhaps by the time I have 10 or more applications done I will begin to develop a method. I'll keep you posted.

I decided to try the Qualssole after seeing a few of the posts about it. I had about 4 coats each of shellac on two mandolins. I sanded between, but could not seem to get the brush marks out when I decided that french polishing could be the answer. I had seen a youtube video on making a pad, so I did that and followed the directions on the bottle. It seems to be leveling out the brush marks, and the initial haze you mentioned earlier seems to be going away. I think this may work out...with some practice.

Matt

[epicentre]

At least there's no worries about "may not ship to Canada"

[belbein]

The mystique involving French Polish is largely due to comments like Mario's. And it's not that I disagree, exactly, I just think that there's some context that's missing, at least in my experience.

French polish is a process, not a product.

This is true. It's not just a wipe-on/brush-on finish. But ...

Expect to work up a sweat, or at least get warm

I don't think I ever worked up a sweat, or got warm, except in the dog days of August in the Atlanta summer. I never found that it took that much effort.

expect your hand and/or fingers to be sore

FP never made my hands and fingers sore. Perhaps that's because I did one layer at a time, then let it dry overnight and continued again the next day. It took weeks to finish dozens of coats, but it was only maybe 20 minutes a day. Not enough to sweat or get sore.

It's that involved.

The thing is, I agree that it's involved in the sense that there's a certain skill required, and you have to get your materials ready and be prepared to follow certain steps. You have to be involved in the process in a way that you don't have to be with a wipe-on, spray-on finish. But it's not difficult. In fact, I find it incredibly easy for the results you get. As I've said before, it's the only finish I've ever succeeded on. I even screw up spray paint. But traditional FP (not all this stuff in a jar) is just incredibly easy and produces a great result. For me, anyway.

[yankees1]

Everytime I see this thread, the first thing I think is "My mother's side is French & my father's side is Polish!" So Mick, you are a result of a process !

[belbein]

... that might well have involved alcolhol, oil and a whole lot of . . . oh, never mind.