I watched a few French polish videos on RUclips and yours is the most unorthodox approach to it. You probably know what you do differently than others, but I'll list what comes to me at the top of my head: 1. you use a really big cloth to apply it, like maybe three times bigger than the others; 2. you really wet your cloth a lot; 3. you use a lot of oil. Having said that, I NEVER saw someone building such a shiny beautiful finish with french polish so fast and I was baffled. I listened to some general orientations from some, and they all say: "don't wet your cloth a lot, don't try to build your finish fast, don't apply thick coats" and regarding oil they all say to use a very small amount, like only a small drop or to wet the tip of your finger. I'm not criticizing your method by any means, I have no experience with french polishising. I'm just pointing out what I heard and what you do differently. I'll definitely try your method because I'm having very poor results with my first French polish. I worked for 20-30 minutes a day on a piece of wood, I'm on my third day with very little results; I feel that I'm very far from a shiny / mirror like result like yours. You got a shine in 10-15 minutes that I didn't achieve in 3 days (around 80 minutes of polishing in total). Which cut do you use on your shellac? I diluted 5g of shellac in 50ml of grain alcohol and I think I should've diluted it in 15ml to get a 3 pound cut instead
Alright, so I started working with linseed oil instead of olive oil and with a proper shellac cut and I'm seeing good results after two days. Linseed oil is less viscous than olive oil and it's much better to work with. The only "problem" (not really a problem) is that it tricks you to think that you're getting a very shiny finish and I think that's what I'm seeing in your video. After you let the shellac dry and clean it up you get a better picture of your actual finish. I'll keep working and experimenting with different methods that I picked over here on RUclips, one of them is to cut the shellac with mineral spirit because it seems that you get rid of pad marks when you work with that. It doesn't hurt to try. Thanks for your tutorial!
Dewaxed Blond shellac flakes. Not super blond or platina or anything else! Whatever the amount of shellac flakes pour alcohol in until it is all submerged. That will result in a concentrated mix = way too thick to use that way. Pour the amount needed in another container and thin with alcohol only! until the desired viscosity is achieved. Ahhhhh,Viscosity? Maple syrup is too thick, about half as thick/viscous is good. Always better too thin than too thick!! If too thin it will take forever and ever, maybe years, maybe never, to deposit any material, so add the concentrated mix until it thickens up. Little at the time. Make the polishing mix as viscous as you can, this saves oodles of time & $, and frustration, and for getting a good result faster than too thin a mixture does. Too viscous a liquid will not flow in or out of the cloth easily or at all, so adjust it accordingly. if cloth is chocked with too thick liquid get a fresh one! Too thick/viscous will glaze the surface of the cloth very quickly. This is "one indication of way too viscous", = thin a little to increase flow rate. After a few times it will make sense, with a little practice. RAW Linseed only! Edible and nutritious!
@@hampshirepiano6383 Thanks for replying! Currently I'm having this chocked issue with my pads, they're getting clogged after applying only two layers or so and I presumed that was happening because the shellac was too thick, so I'm going to fix that! You can't master this thing without a lot of practice and that's what I'm doing on some pieces of wood before jumping to acoustic guitars.
@@hampshirepiano6383 A mixing board as you have in your video where you mix the oil and the shellac before applying it? No, I'm not using it! I have a question, do you clean the remaining linseed oil the next day before applying more coats? One luthier said that olive oil stays on the surface ("evaporates") as opposed to almond oil, which blends with the shellac (he mentioned that his shellac teacher always used almond oil). I believe linseed works the same as olive oil.
Great video on french polish with shellac. A couple of questions: 1) what is that oil that you are using in the plastic bottle and what purpose does it serve? and 2) I understand that nitrocelluose lacquer can also be "padded on" in a similar fashion. How would you compare the pros/cons for the two difference finishes for a guitar soundboard? Thanks very much for sharing your knowledge!
Raw Linseed. Also edible and nutritious.LOL. Why? Hmm,,it certainly prevents the rubber/rag from sticking. I used mineral oil for a few years in the early 70's and it worked OK but I have very old books on the subject and Raw Linseed is what is said to be best and they were right! I've tried different lubricating materials. Mineral oil sucks compared to Linseed. How about just pros Re: shellac/linseed. Well. It is hard as heck, easy to repair very acoustically reflective and does seems to be more so than some other materials. From general consensus/opinion. Sounds good most say!
@@BlaisPianoGuitars Thanks for taking the time to reply to my questions. I really appreciate it! I have used shellac (by brush) before and like its hardness and ease of application. And easy to repair is great for any finish.....
Just not saw this video and your French polishing skills are top shelf. I'm not understanding the guitar, itself, though. Why is the top too short? Are you experimenting with the sound hole? Just trying to figure it out. I'm not a fan of using metal in a guitar for anything other than the tuners and truss rod. Again, I am not ripping on you. I'm just trying to figure this out.
Hello! Well--- no one has asked any questions, you are actually the first. I'm going to continue with the shellacking because it happens to be necessary on the three we are making ready to sell. I thought I'd attempt to video some for those who might be interested. These prototypes have been out to bar rooms/venues in the area in all kinds of weather, = freezing and cooking in cars for a couple of years now for testing. So we did a fresh shellacking on all three. You asked. Why is the top too short? This is not an easy question.---but yes. Except for the traditional 200 year old shape, it is not so inside. The sound port has been larger and smaller during the evolution of this design. Each time = different tonal results, and the one we have now seems to be optimum. With this design it had to be there. We'll be making videos about this soon. Do you make guitars?
@@BlaisPianoGuitars That's crazy but very interesting. Out of the box thinking.. I like it. No, I do not build guitars. I've always wanted to though but since my second stroke took away full use of my right side I will stick to watching others build guitars. I still play guitar because I just love to, but as you can imagine, since I'm right handed, picking and strumming is very hard for me. I had to design a custom pic for me to even be able to play again. I have a RUclips channel but it's mainly on tech. That's it for me. Didn't plan on talking about me. Just wanted to comment on your guitar because it was so different from what's being built by others. Keep up the awesome work.
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Love a good french polish adaptation. Ive struggled to get it good until i broke from tradition and did what works.
I watched a few French polish videos on RUclips and yours is the most unorthodox approach to it. You probably know what you do differently than others, but I'll list what comes to me at the top of my head: 1. you use a really big cloth to apply it, like maybe three times bigger than the others; 2. you really wet your cloth a lot; 3. you use a lot of oil. Having said that, I NEVER saw someone building such a shiny beautiful finish with french polish so fast and I was baffled. I listened to some general orientations from some, and they all say: "don't wet your cloth a lot, don't try to build your finish fast, don't apply thick coats" and regarding oil they all say to use a very small amount, like only a small drop or to wet the tip of your finger.
I'm not criticizing your method by any means, I have no experience with french polishising. I'm just pointing out what I heard and what you do differently.
I'll definitely try your method because I'm having very poor results with my first French polish. I worked for 20-30 minutes a day on a piece of wood, I'm on my third day with very little results; I feel that I'm very far from a shiny / mirror like result like yours. You got a shine in 10-15 minutes that I didn't achieve in 3 days (around 80 minutes of polishing in total).
Which cut do you use on your shellac? I diluted 5g of shellac in 50ml of grain alcohol and I think I should've diluted it in 15ml to get a 3 pound cut instead
Alright, so I started working with linseed oil instead of olive oil and with a proper shellac cut and I'm seeing good results after two days. Linseed oil is less viscous than olive oil and it's much better to work with. The only "problem" (not really a problem) is that it tricks you to think that you're getting a very shiny finish and I think that's what I'm seeing in your video. After you let the shellac dry and clean it up you get a better picture of your actual finish. I'll keep working and experimenting with different methods that I picked over here on RUclips, one of them is to cut the shellac with mineral spirit because it seems that you get rid of pad marks when you work with that. It doesn't hurt to try. Thanks for your tutorial!
Dewaxed Blond shellac flakes.
Not super blond or platina or anything else!
Whatever the amount of shellac flakes pour alcohol in until it is all submerged.
That will result in a concentrated mix = way too thick to use that way.
Pour the amount needed in another container and thin with alcohol only! until the desired viscosity is achieved.
Ahhhhh,Viscosity?
Maple syrup is too thick, about half as thick/viscous is good.
Always better too thin than too thick!! If too thin it will take forever and ever, maybe years, maybe never, to deposit any material, so add the concentrated mix until it thickens up. Little at the time.
Make the polishing mix as viscous as you can, this saves oodles of time & $, and frustration, and for getting a good result faster than too thin a mixture does.
Too viscous a liquid will not flow in or out of the cloth easily or at all, so adjust it accordingly. if cloth is chocked with too thick liquid get a fresh one!
Too thick/viscous will glaze the surface of the cloth very quickly.
This is "one indication of way too viscous", = thin a little to increase flow rate.
After a few times it will make sense, with a little practice.
RAW Linseed only! Edible and nutritious!
@@hampshirepiano6383 Thanks for replying! Currently I'm having this chocked issue with my pads, they're getting clogged after applying only two layers or so and I presumed that was happening because the shellac was too thick, so I'm going to fix that! You can't master this thing without a lot of practice and that's what I'm doing on some pieces of wood before jumping to acoustic guitars.
Are you using a mixing board ?
I've referred to it as my intermediate thing.
@@hampshirepiano6383 A mixing board as you have in your video where you mix the oil and the shellac before applying it? No, I'm not using it!
I have a question, do you clean the remaining linseed oil the next day before applying more coats? One luthier said that olive oil stays on the surface ("evaporates") as opposed to almond oil, which blends with the shellac (he mentioned that his shellac teacher always used almond oil). I believe linseed works the same as olive oil.
Great job master
Great video on french polish with shellac. A couple of questions: 1) what is that oil that you are using in the plastic bottle and what purpose does it serve? and 2) I understand that nitrocelluose lacquer can also be "padded on" in a similar fashion. How would you compare the pros/cons for the two difference finishes for a guitar soundboard? Thanks very much for sharing your knowledge!
Raw Linseed.
Also edible and nutritious.LOL.
Why?
Hmm,,it certainly prevents the rubber/rag from sticking.
I used mineral oil for a few years in the early 70's and it worked OK but I have very old books on the subject and Raw Linseed is what is said to be best and they were right!
I've tried different lubricating materials.
Mineral oil sucks compared to Linseed.
How about just pros Re: shellac/linseed.
Well.
It is hard as heck, easy to repair very acoustically reflective and does seems to be more so than some other materials. From general consensus/opinion. Sounds good most say!
@@BlaisPianoGuitars Thanks for taking the time to reply to my questions. I really appreciate it! I have used shellac (by brush) before and like its hardness and ease of application. And easy to repair is great for any finish.....
Looks good!
Thanks! What kinda oil is that?
What cut shellac are you using?
I was just gonna use the premixed, should I thin that?
Just not saw this video and your French polishing skills are top shelf. I'm not understanding the guitar, itself, though. Why is the top too short? Are you experimenting with the sound hole? Just trying to figure it out. I'm not a fan of using metal in a guitar for anything other than the tuners and truss rod. Again, I am not ripping on you. I'm just trying to figure this out.
Hello!
Well--- no one has asked any questions, you are actually the first.
I'm going to continue with the shellacking because it happens to be necessary on the three we are making ready to sell.
I thought I'd attempt to video some for those who might be interested.
These prototypes have been out to bar rooms/venues in the area in all kinds of weather, = freezing and cooking in cars for a couple of years now for testing.
So we did a fresh shellacking on all three.
You asked.
Why is the top too short?
This is not an easy question.---but yes.
Except for the traditional 200 year old shape, it is not so inside.
The sound port has been larger and smaller during the evolution of this design.
Each time = different tonal results, and the one we have now seems to be optimum.
With this design it had to be there.
We'll be making videos about this soon.
Do you make guitars?
@@BlaisPianoGuitars
That's crazy but very interesting. Out of the box thinking.. I like it. No, I do not build guitars. I've always wanted to though but since my second stroke took away full use of my right side I will stick to watching others build guitars. I still play guitar because I just love to, but as you can imagine, since I'm right handed, picking and strumming is very hard for me. I had to design a custom pic for me to even be able to play again.
I have a RUclips channel but it's mainly on tech.
That's it for me. Didn't plan on talking about me. Just wanted to comment on your guitar because it was so different from what's being built by others. Keep up the awesome work.
Oh-my, thank you!@@HayesTech
@@BlaisPianoGuitarsinteresting, i thought it was going to be an internal resonator like the old selmers ( i build those)
Hmm, these are our first videos showing how our sound board finises are applied.
It takes about a half hour for each application.