What is a French Polish?

admin · Post by **admin** » Wed Nov 09, 2005 2:26 am

Paul: Could you please explain the process involved in a French polish?

I have an old coffee table with surface scratches. Perhaps this is my chance to give it a whirl.

johnhall · Post by **johnhall** » Wed Nov 09, 2005 7:04 am

While at the car wash, I noticed a large tent at the side with a big banner that said "Polish Center". For the life of me, I couldn't imagine that there would have been enough Polish people to keep this place busy.

I could go on but I'll stop at that in deference to Paul.

jingle_jangle · Post by **jingle_jangle** » Wed Nov 09, 2005 9:57 am

John, was this the car wash on PCH near the Balboa Bay Club?

'Cause that's the Polish Center where I used to hang out (often alone)...

French polishing is a shellac-based finish, in which a cheesecloth sheet in folded into a "pad" and saturated with a special French polishing shellac, and the shellac is "padded" (wiped onto the surface of the table) in builtup layers.

It takes a deft touch, and the right materials. You must use French Polish Shellac. Regular shellac won't work--it's too sticky and contains waxes which inhibit flowout. French Polish Shellac has a lubricating oil added to assist in laying down a smooth layer of shellac with max flowout. Layers of polish are built on a table top with strokes which go in a pattern along the long axis (on a rectangular table) to along the curve (pie-shaped) to spirally out from the center (circular table).

It takes awhile to develop the proper touch, but the finish, properly executed, looks "warm" and "alive" and deeper than varnish.

Here's a hands-on especially for guitar builders which is of interest:

http://www.milburnguitars.com/fpbannerframes.html

admin · Post by **admin** » Wed Nov 09, 2005 10:08 am

Paul: Maybe I'll try paste wax. Thanks for the information, but it seems like it is out of my league at least for this table.

jingle_jangle · Post by **jingle_jangle** » Wed Nov 09, 2005 12:53 pm

There are several products made by Formby and other companies which fill and color scratches slightly.

admin · Post by **admin** » Wed Nov 09, 2005 1:58 pm

An idea certainly worth considering Paul. Thanks.

johnhall · Post by **johnhall** » Thu Nov 10, 2005 7:22 am

Some of those Formby products work quite nicely for furniture. I remember using one that slightly softened the existing finish on an old desk such that it filled scratches.

It's been 20+ years now but as I recall, there were two components to the process, one rather thin like a solvent and the other with viscosity more like varnish. You "washed" the surface with 0000 steel wool in the thin stuff and wiped it down later with a cloth using the thick stuff.

I still have the desk and it still looks great, previously having many cracks, burns, and stains on the finish.

jingle_jangle · Post by **jingle_jangle** » Thu Nov 10, 2005 7:48 am

My friends at the Polish Center here in MV recommend it highly!

They have a line of one-step stuff; I don't know how long it's been on the market. This is in keeping with the new American tradition of "fastest is best"...

But the one-step stuff works really well, too.