Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

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.

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.

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

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.

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

An idea certainly worth considering Paul. Thanks.

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.

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.