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Hesh the stuff you bought is great for salads and other foods. I think the cheaper stuff would work just fine as would olive oil which is also good in salads.

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Get out your balsamic vinegar, Hesh. You'll be eating lots of salads. The "roasted" walnuts make me worry a bit. Probably good for flavor, but a big ? when it comes to polishing. Whole Foods had the Spectrum brand the last time I was there and it is just cold pressed walnut oil, which is what we are after.

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Stay with the happy people.
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i use the hain and have had no problems.

The Hain has additional additives, vitamin E I believe, to retard spoilage. The word I read somewhere is that the additive is not a good thing. But if Michael is having no probs with it then it may just be one of those "luthier myths" that float around. Still, I would use 100% cold pressed oil with no additives if given a choice.

_________________
Stay with the happy people.
--Reynolds Large

That Roasted Walnut oil looks really tasty Hesh. Bet it'd make your guitar smell great too!

I've been wondering if Macadamia Nut oil would be any good? I seem to remember reading that the reason walnut oil was good for french polishing was that it would evaporate unlike olive oil which needs to be spirited off. I don't know if macadamia nut oil evaporates, but it would also make a nice smelling guitar! (and tasting... although you'd probably get a few strange looks if people saw you licking your guitar )

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If God had wanted us to drink beer, he would have given us stomaches.

Hesh--

It's sounding like you are getting ready to get some exercise! I've found a good source for sandarac and copal for my experiment -- The Gemmary -- and have a small order in.
Let me know when you have a spare hour or so and we can get together.

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Jim Howell
Charlotte, NC

Hesh--

What I ended up doing was based mostly on the fact that I finished the neck with Tru-Oil. I did the finish to both the neck and guitar body prior to installing the neck. I didn't tape the bridge area or the fretboard extension as my intuition was telling me I wanted as few obstructions as possible in the motion of the pad. In hindsight I think that this worked pretty well and I'll do it this way next time. It takes a little extra time to scrape, but not too bad.

Looking forward!

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Jim Howell
Charlotte, NC

Hesh,

The alcohol in the shellac will dissolve the tape's adhesive, and incorporate it into your FP. I know this to be true.

Also, if you've got a Woodcraft near you, check there for walnut oil--it's supposed to be the straight-up stuff. If they don't have it, get it from Lee Valley. It's easy!

considering that a coniferous top does not need filling,and you are going to french polish, why not use a darker shellac to achieve the colour you want?

Not to hijack this thread, but is sandarac and copal for hardening of the finish? Clinton

The short answer is yes, but some people have had the reverse happen. I'm going to use several different formulations on some scrap mahogany to see what happens. Both resins have been used in the fine arts fields for a really long time.

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Jim Howell
Charlotte, NC

i think they are added more for toughness rather than hardness. plain french polish is quite hard, but can be brittle. varnishes with a host of additives, including copal and sandarac, have been developed to make the finish tougher, more flexible without losing the inherent hardness so as not to inhibit tone, responsiveness, yadda, yadda. reading some of the violin makers recipes is an education in itself.

BTW, a really good bottle to keep your walnut oil in is an empty Jet Dry (dishwashing rinse aid) bottle. It has a tiny opening that works well for putting a drop of oil on the pad.

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Stay with the happy people.
--Reynolds Large

Hesh,

Another down side to masking the bridge and fb areas with fp is that it
makes for a bit of a bother during the fp process. It's nicer to have as much
area clear as is possible when the muneca is flying around on the top.

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now known around here as Pat Foster
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Hesh--

I made a scraper from a single edged razor blade by burnishing it on a screwdriver. It turned out to be very controllable. Didn't make me nearly as nervous as putting the lam trimmer on the guitar to route the bindings.

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Jim Howell
Charlotte, NC