French Polishing for Beginners.

[tiv48]

hi col, the vacuum bags i used came from wilkinses i think cost about £10 made for storing clothes in a limited space and just an ordenary house hold vacuum . i did not realise that people used them for wood woork will have to look it up ,for me i t was just an experiment but worked fine .if i can get at it ihave an hmv where the veneer had gone compleatly from the top leaving just the ply wood ,i stained and polished that and added a dry slip nipper decal not perfect but looks ok,but it was hard work
cheers rob t

[Retired]

Hi,

I actually enjoy restoring rather than seeing the finished article Rob and I'm pleased you are having success whilst trying new ideas out; I'm aware of the type of vacuum bag you used and describe and have seen them many times on the shopping channel QVC. I'm not sure how effective they are compared to a proper vacuum bag veneering system but I'm impressed that you tried the idea out and that it worked for you which after all is what counts; once you try something and it works then it leads to trying out other ideas.

Please have a look at the following website as it contains quite a bit of useful information;

http://www.joewoodworker.com/veneering/welcome.htm

Kind regards, Col.

[tiv48]

many thanks for that link
cheers robt

[Retired]

Hi,

You are most welcome Rob and I hope the link and website were informative.

Over the last week or so I've been working on restoring a TV cabinet and ran into a problem regarding the use of Talcum Powder as lubricant during flatting with abrasive paper.

All my previous cabinet restorations have been accomplished by removing the original finish with a cabinet scraper then after staining I've applied brush coats of shellac to quickly build up a good thick base for flatting; my first restorations were done using dry abrasive paper for flatting then when I saw the tip about using talcum powder I adopted this and found it to be excellent.

Removing original finish with the scraper usually leaves the old grain filling in place so the brush coats of shellac went on with no difficulty whatsoever allowing flatting to a perfect "matt" using abrasive paper and talc.

This TV cabinet I'm restoring was in such poor condition and had extensive woodworm damage together with much de-lamination that I ended up replacing half the frame members; two complete sides and the entire veneers.

I used Sapele Pommele veneer for inlaid panels with quartered Sapele veneer for cross banding. Normally I apply eight brush coats of shellac (French polish) before flatting but due to our terrible climate on this cabinet I only applied four brush coats of shellac before attempting to flat and for my stupidity I suffered a great a great deal of trouble. I was alarmed to see the talc had settled into the open grain left exposed due to insufficient thickness of shellac; normally an artist's brush will easily remove talc but this time the talc was refusing to move.

I ended up having to apply a colour wash of artist's acrylic Burnt Umber to kill the whiteness of the talc.

This was a very hard lesson to learn and I don't want anyone else to fall into the same trap so thought it worth while adding these notes. Many years ago the best work was done by filling the grain with shellac; this was a lot more expensive due to the extra time involved but avoided problems that can arise by using paste grain filler which can show up badly at a later date especially if traditional Plaster of Paris has been used; Rose tint or linseed oil would be used to kill the whiteness of the paster but it could still give later problems so I always grain fill using shellac.

The Sapele veneers used on this cabinet have quite open grain and four coats of shellac only partially filed the grain hence the problem. The cabinet has now had nine coats of shellac applied and hopefully this time when I flat all will be well. I'll only try a small area as a test using abrasive paper and talc.

This TV cabinet is still work in progress and the entire restoration is covered by a huge thread on another forum but once completed I'll post the story onto this forum and hope the many new techniques and skills I've learned during it's progress will be of help to other members.

I still like using talc as a lubricant whilst flatting but am now aware to be careful ensuring grain is fully filled by only testing it on a small area first.

Kind regards, Col.

[kevin.Hoyland]

Hello Col.
outstanding work you have put into this post. I have 2 Bush VHF 54 that need the cases French Polising. Now i can start the work on them. Thank you.
Regards Kev.

[Retired]

Hi,

You are most welcome Kev and I'm pleased my notes are of use; I've seen so many beautiful restorations showing the finished item but seldom see what is really involved whilst achieving this. Once the mistakes have been made during the first French polish job all the other French polishing jobs become much easier and it can't be so hard as I learnt from scratch but admit to making lots of mistakes and falling into every black hole possible.

The key to success is patience but the results can be outstanding for very little cost in materials; please post your progress in order to encourage others to have a go; take your time and enjoy the process then do as I do and stand back and say "did I do that". The harder the project is and the longer it takes the buzz at the end is always worth all the effort.

Kind regards, Col.

[tiv48]

after reading these posts i think i will attempt more cabinet work, have found a place on ebay that sells veneer at a reasonable price ,but will start on old wooden box not radio. some cabinet work i have done looks ok but not sure for how long.
thanks again rob t

[Retired]

Hi,

Good luck Rob but please be careful because cabinetwork is highly addictive and there is no known cure after your first success. I too buy veneers off eBay but take my time to find the best prices.

I'm looking forward to seeing your progress and if I can help please PM me.

Kind regards, Col.

[tiv48]

many thanks for your offer i beleive i will proberly need that advice
rob t

[Retired]

Hi,

You are most welcome Rob.

Here's a bit more information showing the TV cabinet I'm currently working on and have started to flat using abrasive paper and talcum powder this afternoon.

Flatting is a slow process and it's pointless trying to rush by using coarse abrasive paper or pressing too hard which only coats the paper. I used both 420grit and 600grit wet or dry paper mostly using oval movements taking my time. It's taken about two and a half hours to flat two cabinet sides.

The pictures show what the nine brush coats of shellac look like before flatting and what it looks like in close up after flatting. I like using talcum powder but only once this stage has been reached and the grain is fully sealed with shellac. The shiny flecks are where the shellac has filled the grain and it has sunk; to try to remove all these flecks would possibly take it back to bare veneer; I'm happy to see most of the flecks have now been flatted out and there is a vast improvement in the surface ready to accept more shellac; It won't take much more shellac at this stage to completely fill the grain then most of the hard work will be behind me and I will soon see the finish appear; once the cabinet is completely flatted I'll decide whether it requires more brush coats of shellac or if I can start to use the rubber. I hope the pictures are useful because this stage in finishing is not usually shown but it is most important to get it right.

Kind regards, Col.
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