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Hi, I need advice about French Polish, What should I do for the top coat? I've finished but it easy to scratch.
How to protect or can be scratch resistant.
Thanks alot...

French polish is the top coat. It is a thin finish and shellac isn’t as hard as modern factory finishes. How long ago did you finish? It will continue to harden over time.

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Bryan Bear PMoMC

Take care of your feet, and your feet will take care of you.

now two years... but now have much scratces...

Bryan Bear when new french polish finished, how long will it take to harden

The nice thing about French polish (shellac) finishes is that they can be renewed and scratches in the finish removed by applying more French polish on top of the old. The less lubricating oil you use when applying it, generally the harder the finish, but French polish lacks the durability of many other finishes.

I believe it continues to harden for years after It is applied. That said, I was asking if it was brand new, like a couple weeks. At two years, it won’t increase in hardness in a way you will notice.

FP is not as hard/protective as the thick “dipped i plastic looking” finishes at guitar center. A hand made instrument with FP should be handles with a bit more care. As Clay mention, repairing or refreshing a FP finish is pretty straight forward.

When you did the French polish. Did you mix your own shellac from flakes or did you use a store bought product?

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Bryan Bear PMoMC

Take care of your feet, and your feet will take care of you.

I did my own shellac from flakes mix with alkohol

Thanks Clay, I will renew to polish

Old premixed shellac that has passed it's shelf life doesn't dry or dry hard. Sometimes the flakes get old too, but that is less common. Some people have had good luck with Royal Lac - a modified shellac. It is supposed to be more wear resistant.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B3F_QOwmPmo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z6ofOgw-Bno

Get some Kusmi seedlac if you can, mix and use it right away. It is pretty tough after 1 week.

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Wow Clay, he is working with a much wetter pad than I am. He looks to be building much faster than I do too. Maybe I should try to be a little bit more aggressive. In the past I have found that I get into trouble if I have a pad that is too wet. Maybe I have improved enough to get away with it now. If not, I’ll go back to what was working for me.

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Bryan Bear PMoMC

Take care of your feet, and your feet will take care of you.

Wet pad works fine for Robbie's fly-on, fly-off method and in my experience is a good way to get the seal coats on and even the first few coats of Royal Lac. I do that and then level sand, very lightly, to get the imperfections out. After that I transition to work more like David Wren is doing and my fad is definitely dryer.

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

Something Robbie taught me has made a big positive difference in my french polishing: Work with a thinner solution (1 lb. cut), because it dries much faster, which paradoxically allows for a quicker build, because you can go over it again in less time without running the risk of removing what you just put down.