Official Luthiers Forum!

Hi Kathy, those are hardeners that can be added to shellac. Are you planning on buffing out your finish with anything? After a couple/few weeks, many folks hand buff with an automotive rubbing compound on a hard felt pad. Some French polishes are apparently so good that they don't need that, but sadly, I haven't gotten to that point yet. But really nicely done for your first attempt.

Steve

Beautiful work, Kathy. Oh, you should be proud!

Steve

_________________
From Nacogdoches...the oldest town in Texas.

http://www.stephenkinnaird.com

Hi Kathy,
They have properties like sandarac is for hardening the shellac, copal for flexability, etc.
See you and have fun - Gordon

Steve: Thanks for the kind words, and for the info on the hardeners. Do they make a big difference in the durability of the shellac? As for buffing out the finish, I plan to use some Meguiar's polishes (lots of people seem to use #9 and #7, which is what I tend to use on my instruments). I love the gloss that they give.



Thanks, Gordon!

_________________
Kathy Matsushita
San Jose, CA USA
http://theamateurluthier.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kathy.matsushita

Hey, Steve! Thank you! It's been really fun trying this French polishing thing out, and I'm really thankful that it seems to have gone well for me. (I was actually expecting it to be a bit difficult, based on what I've read from others, but it turned out to be not difficult at all, once I got somewhat of a feel for it.)

Will you be at Healdsburg? If so, see you there!

_________________
Kathy Matsushita
San Jose, CA USA
http://theamateurluthier.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kathy.matsushita

Just a quick photo of where the guitar stands now. I THINK I'm done. After around 16 bodying sessions, I did about 4 "glazing" sessions (less shellac, more alcohol). After I let it sit for a while --- I think I'll wait a week --- I'll polish it up with some Meguiar's polishes. Then I can glue on the neck and bridge, and set it all up with saddle, nut, tuners, and strings! The waiting part always kills me....

_________________
Kathy Matsushita
San Jose, CA USA
http://theamateurluthier.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kathy.matsushita

Sweet!!!

_________________
Joe Beaver
Maker of Sawdust

Indeed we will. Look forward to seeing you again.

Steve

_________________
From Nacogdoches...the oldest town in Texas.

http://www.stephenkinnaird.com

I dont call it a French Polish Finish
It's a French Polish Surrender

_________________
Say what you do, Do what you say.

Hi Kathy, one more little trick, courtesy of Ervin Somogyi. If you've got any dull spots after rubbing out your finish, try a little bit of the Meguiar's with some wadded up toilet paper. Don't know why, but it works beautifully.

Steve

Thanks, Steve! However, I don't think I'm going need to rub out my finish (at least with wet/dry or Micromesh) --- after a week or so, I'm just going to go straight to the Meguiar's. (At the moment, it looks as if I already buffed it out! Hopefully, that won't change.)

I'm on Day 3 of the "Waiting Game" (the most difficult part of the process for me). I've been doing a few more "spiriting off" sessions these past couple of days, and the finish just seems to get more flat & level & glossy each time I do it.

Here it is, as it stands now:

_________________
Kathy Matsushita
San Jose, CA USA
http://theamateurluthier.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kathy.matsushita

Sorry, by rubbing out, I meant using the Meguiars. Once you've done that, you can get any duller spots with the tp.

Steve

Oh, now I get it. What makes the difference between the toilet paper as applicator, vs. a cloth? (Does the TP kind of "burnish" it better?)

_________________
Kathy Matsushita
San Jose, CA USA
http://theamateurluthier.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kathy.matsushita

No idea I think it's probably some kind of burnishing action.

Steve

Kathy, this is a master grade french polish. It is just perfect. If this is you first french polished guitar, let me tell you that it is a hundred fold better than my 30th. Since you provided some pictures of your guitarbuilding progress in your website, I am cursious to find out if you are going to let us know your french polish protocol.
Great job.

Wow. Thanks so much! Again, I have no idea why it's worked so well for me.

And, as a matter of fact, I have just been spending this morning FINALLY putting up some stuff on my website, after not having posted anything there since I finished the Weissenborn back in mid-January. So far, I've changed/moved some stuff from my home page, to make way for the new links. Now I am ready to put up what little I have taken photos of on this last build, the Size 5 I'm doing now. (I didn't bother to post this Size 5 build --- except for some stuff here and there on Facebook --- because it would have been redundant.) However, the French polish experience is new for me, so I'm going to post that stuff. (Basically, I'm just going to transfer the stuff I posted on Facebook, onto my web pages.)

I, by no means, consider myself to have an official FP "protocol" --- what I tried out, simply by guessing at it, just seems to have worked for me on this, my first attempt!

_________________
Kathy Matsushita
San Jose, CA USA
http://theamateurluthier.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kathy.matsushita