French Polishing Please

[tinas]

My partner makes sculptures from plant and tree roots. They are displayed on wood plinths, which he varnishes. He would love to be able to french polish the plinths. I have trawled the web for a french polishing course near to us, we are in Great Yarmouth. But most courses I have found are more for furniture restoration, which he doesnt need.
In his ideal world he would love to meet a retired french polisher who could share his experience without it being in a regimented classroom. So if there is someone out there who could spare a few hours he would really appreciate it. (He doesn't expect it for free, we are more than willing to pay and buy all the appropriate gear).
Thankyou
Tina

 

[John15]

Peter Sefton does a 2 day French Polishing course but he's probably too far for you. http://www.peterseftonfurnitureschool.com/

John

 

[ED65]

He would love to be able to french polish the plinths.

Is this because he believes they'll look better? In reality varnishing is a faster way to achieve much the same finish. Varnish is in many ways better, because it looks about the same (indistinguishable in many cases in fact) while being heaps faster and taking far less elbow grease. On top of that it is much more durable and water resistant, not that those probably matter for what you're doing but worth mentioning at least.

That said if you have your heart set on it you don't need a course to learn how, there are numerous finishing books with chapters on the subject, as well as a few books on French polishing alone, which can start the aspiring French polisher from zero. With practice you can get to a reasonably good standard in just a couple of weeks.

Your local libraries might have one or two of the books just on French polishing, there are four in the libraries in easy reach of me. Don't know how you're fixed for libraries in Great Yarmouth and within easy driving distance but that's an avenue definitely worth looking into.

 

[tinas]

Thanks for the quick replies. Yes, I think he will have to resort to the books and Utube, but it would have been nice for him to have met someone who wanted to pass the skill on. Yes a tin of varnish is quicker, but isn't it nice to occasionally do it the old fashioned, (dare I say) proper way? And maybe gain a friend along the way.
Thanks again
Tina

 

[bugbear]

Thanks for the quick replies. Yes, I think he will have to resort to the books and Utube, but it would have been nice for him to have met someone who wanted to pass the skill on. Yes a tin of varnish is quicker, but isn't it nice to occasionally do it the old fashioned, (dare I say) proper way? And maybe gain a friend along the way.
Thanks again
Tina

French polishing such an irregular and complex shape is very difficult. FP is at its glorious best on large surfaces of chatoyant timbers, so I don't think it's well suited to your pieces.

I would put the effort into doing a good job with varnish - top grade violins are varnished...

BugBear

 

[MIGNAL]

Thanks for the quick replies. Yes, I think he will have to resort to the books and Utube, but it would have been nice for him to have met someone who wanted to pass the skill on. Yes a tin of varnish is quicker, but isn't it nice to occasionally do it the old fashioned, (dare I say) proper way? And maybe gain a friend along the way.
Thanks again
Tina

Varnish is the old fashioned way. In terms of western furniture finishing it pre dates French polishing by centuries. It was the finish of all the royal palaces in Europe. Shellac or French polishing gave the advantage that it could be done in quite a dusty atmosphere and it was relatively easy to make. Oil varnish usually displays wood with a more three dimensional effect. Compared to shellac (French polishing) it glows. An easy way of applying it is to use one of the rubbing varnishes. I like Tru Oil because it contains linseed and it's not laced with all the solvents that most rubbing varnishes have. It's not quite an old fashioned oil varnish but it's close. Instead of a natural resin it contains an alkyd resin, which itself is made from oil, so it's not that far removed. It can be padded on, sprayed on or brushed on. It does need many coats to obtain a full gloss finish but each coat takes just 5 minutes.

 

[tinas]

Cheers for that, he is now looking to try the TruOil for his plinths.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

When he gets it, tell him to put a pin hole in the foil not tear the foil off. Just squeeze out a drop or two and don't return anything unused to the bottle (not that he could through a pin hole :lol: ). It will last longer.

 

[MIGNAL]

And store it upside down i.e. sat on it's lid.
Tru oil is normally wiped on and if you want full gloss you have to give it multiple coats, it will build eventually. Some say as many as 18 or 20. Plenty of youtube videos of applying it, either guitar makers or gunstock finishing. You can also spray it or brush it. Brushing is a thicker coating, faster build up but at the expense of you having to control the dust, just like many other brushed oil varnishes.
I think it comes in 3 sizes, 3 Oz, 8 Oz and a 32 Oz bottle. You would need to be doing an awful lot of plinths to justify the 32 Oz bottle. It is much cheaper buying it in that quantity though. It's shelf life isn't great. I think I once got 2 years before it went off, that was with the pin hole, storing it upside down and putting marbles in the bottle. 2 years is good, I've had it go off in 6 months but then again I was careless. The other point to make is that it does take a few months to truly harden. You can certainly handle it after a few weeks but that extra time does allow it to become harder.

 

[ED65]

Cheers for that, he is now looking to try the TruOil for his plinths.

If you haven't bought yet Tru Oil is just one of (many) oil-and-varnish blends. If you've heard of Danish oil that can be much the same thing, some not as good but some better.

FYI if it's shine you're after you'll get there faster and more reliably (less problem with dull patches) using varnish. Varnish is said to 'build' faster, meaning a film is created and builds up thickness on the surface of the wood more quickly. Varnish will also produce a harder, more durable finish than any oil/varnish blend because those are relatively soft due to the extra oil content.

 

[MIGNAL]

Tru oil isn't soft, not if it's allowed to fully harden. It resists finger nail scratches well. It's not as dilute as Danish oils and is more pleasant to use, much less solvent. It's also based on linseed, which to my mind smells a whole lot better than tung oil. It's one of the most pleasant modern varnishes to use IMO. It's difficult to tell it's resin content because Birchwood casey just state that it contains linseed and a modified oil. In my experience it's near the mark of being close to an old fashioned short oil varnish, that's just by judging it's resistance to scratching with finger nail and various pencil leads. It's certainly not Ronseal diamond floor varnish though.