French Polishing for Beginners.

[kevin.Hoyland]

[attachment=284][attachment=283][attachment=282]Hello Col.
This is the Goblin Time Spot radio case that needs Frech Polishing. I hope you can see on the bottom corner the damage part of the case.
Regards Kev.

[Retired]

Hi,

Bits of missing veneer is a common cabinet problem Kev and not easy to resolve. Is the rest of the veneer still securely glued in place? If not then I would tackle this first by gently lifting the loose veneer and inserting wood glue; remove excess glue and add a bit of weight but put some grease proof paper between the weight and cabinet or the cabinet will gain an attachment.

I'm happy to add a few pictures of a similar problem I had whilst restoring my Ultra Tiger; this cabinet had a piece of missing Burr veneer that would be virtually impossible to match by adding new veneer so I used a tip kindly passed on to me by my friend Martin Scobie; Martin suggested using filler to replace the missing veneer then use good quality artist's acrylic paint to add colour blending the repair in.

I ensured the hollow was clean from debris and dust. I then had the idea of using standard masking tape applying this neatly around the outer edges of the hollow; this would give a guide for filling the hollow just proud allowing for a bit of filler shrinkage; a plastic card was used to remove excess filler leaving the hollow very neatly filled.

I used two pack woodworking filler; (filler plus hardener) I initially tried using auto two pack filler but this rejected the paint making me start over. The masking tape was removed whilst the filler remained soft; the filler quickly set then I used a cabinet scraper to bring the filler down level. I feared that by using abrasive paper alone I would possibly end up causing a great deal more damage by rubbing through the surrounding veneer because the veneer is much softer than the filler; the cabinet scraper made a lovely job of this followed by a light going over with abrasive paper.

I'm colour blind but my wife Bronwyn very kindly let me play with her artists acrylic paints and brushes telling me what colours to mix and I was delighted with the result; the cabinet was then French polished and is a favourite set.

If it was mine Kev I would take time to make a good filled repair then completely scrape the cabinet using a cabinet scraper before touching the filler in with paint then either finish with sprayed lacquer (spray cans) or French polish.

It will look gorgeous with a lot of TLC; what a lovely project it will make.

I hope this helps and good luck.

Kind regards, Col.

[kevin.Hoyland]

Hello Col.
Thank you for the tips regarding the woodfiller and tape.
I do appreciate your help.
Regards Kev.

[Joe]

Superb job! It's too easy to get carried away and finish up with a toffee-apple which looks brand new.

As ever, it proves the value of experimenting and thinking for yourself.

- Joe

[Mark R]

John has put up some good stuff here

http://golbornevintageradio.org/forum/sh...p?tid=1418&pid=14947#pid14947

As such it deserves its own thread so I have split it accordingly.

cheers Mark

[Yorkie]

Colin, started this thread way back in the forum's infancy in March 2011. Many members will know that the forum was 'de-railed' and all attachments were lost, though luckily, not the posts themselves. Some members have re-attached pics that were lost from their original posts, but others have not.

Colin has just advised me that he's re-attached to post #1 in this thread his 'Beginners' Guide to French Polishing' (recently updated), so I thought it was worth 'bumping' the thread to wake it up again.
(Not all pics in the posts in this thread have been reattached).

Well worth dowloading Colin's Guide for anyone who wants to move on from Danish oil - the usual default finish for woodies by those of us who find French polishing something of a 'black art'! Colin's excellent 10-page step by step guide helps de-mystify French poliishing, covering the materials needed, and tips on how to avoid the putfalls that stand in the way of success.

There's another French Polishing thread that Colin has updated, so I'll give that a bump too.

These wet dreary winter days when we tend to be stuck indoors are a good time to re-visit our posts and re-attach these attachments which were lost. Many threads are of limited value without the original attachments. Had they not been necessary, they wouldn't have been uploaded in the first place! All we need to do is to open our original post, and edit it ('Full Edit') re-attaching the post using the normal attachment procedure. Think of it s part of our commitment to not tolerating childish vandalism, wrought by absent 'friends'. A great deal of effort went into getting the forum back onto a firm footing, but only we - the members who wrote the original posts - can re-attach our original attachements.

Many thanks to Colin for updating his posts, and to Joe for his assitence in so doing.

Only two more sleeps to Christmas for insomniacs!

From tomorrow the days will be getting longer, so despite a dismal day in which is bucketing down with rain and already dusk here on the N.E. Coast at 3pm, I've got my happy face on!

[Joe]

Now added details of an alternative technique to the OP.

- Joe

[Retired]

Hi,

Many thanks David for "bumping" this thread and for the reminder that a number of threads need their pictures re-instating as the pictures really do bring a lot of life to the threads/posts and explain much better than text.

I've tried to add the pictures a number of times but was unable to do so. Thankfully Joe has been a huge help and obliged me; I sent the pictures to Joe and Joe had to convert post#1 into a download in order to accommodate the pictures whereas in the veneering thread the thread accepted the pictures without trouble.

I think Joe has done a splendid job in sorting both threads out so thank you Joe it is much appreciated.

I've also updated post #1 by adding details of how to achieve an hand rubbed shellac finish which might appeal to members who are a bit timid of tackling a full French polish finish; the hand rubbed finish is much easier but still with outstanding results.

Kind regards, Col.