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Old 4th Dec 2009, 1:39 pm   #26
Retired
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Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: Fenay Bridge, Huddersfield. UK.
Posts: 673
Default Re: French polishing for beginners.

Hi,

Once again many thanks for your kindness.

I believe you are right Robert as the original finish on this cabinet was very thick and could have been Garnet polish which might explain why the veneer colours were so poor; by applying the coat of raw linseed oil the veneer colours really jumped out and this made a tremendous difference. Finishing with Button polish enhanced the colour rather than obscure it; also I had the time to spend working on the cabinet whereas to the factory time cost money and applying linseed oil would have severely slowed down production.

I wonder how many excellent radio sets have ended up in landfill due to having nothing more seriously wrong other than a scruffy cabinet because as Mike correctly states we usually only see the grubby ones covered in years of neglect.

I’m pleased to hear you have suffered the same problems with T-cut Lloyd and think you will be delighted with Meguiars swirl remover; I’m interested to see what happens when you visit the firm with the Meguiars sign outside also please let us know how you rate this product once you have tried it because I’ve only ever seen it mentioned in the states.

I’m sorry to hear your story about the concours event Jim and can well understand your feelings after putting your heart and soul into a cabinet restoration to have it so rudely dismissed by Gerry; the comment was uncalled for and flippant and hardly in keeping with encouraging you to ever attend again. Please don’t sell yourself short Jim because looking at this another way it could be considered a back handed compliment as I’m sure your efforts must have been similar to mine to bring forth such a comment due to the brilliant shine. I hope the owner of the winning set has had time to reflect on it.

A cabinet doesn’t have to have a glossy finish just because its French polished or lacquered and if desired a mat or satin finish can be achieved by the additional step of cutting back. This cutting back is usually done with the use of “0000” wire wool and wax polish; a ball of wire wool is dipped in the wax scooping a bit up and then applied using straight strokes to the surface finishing with a buffing using a clean soft cloth.

I’ve never had much success with this method as the wire wool being random strands appeared to cut in varying degrees depending on how the wire wool was presented; some strands cutting a bit deeper than others. Trying to start a stroke using wire wool against an up stand such as a moulding proved difficult in trying to obtain a uniform appearance. I always end up with a sliver of wire wool embedded in my skin giving me electric shocks every time I touch anything so wire wool is disliked by me.

I’ve seen some beautiful satin finishes produced using wire wool where the user unwrapped the wire wool into a flat very fine layer using this with straight strokes so perhaps more practice is required on my part.

We have much in common Tony regarding the finish of a cabinet. I would never knock or criticize another person’s choice of cabinet finish because after all; surely the owner has the last word. I’ve kept my head down a bit expecting the term “over restored” to crop up which it did in a recent edition of the BVWS Bulletin. The cabinet in question was finished to better than new standard and a credit to the fine workmanship of its owner who I may add was actually a role model for me when I first joined the Society. At the time this upset me because I felt rather than criticize; more good would come from encouragement as we all enjoy our hobby in different ways. I could only live with a scruffy set until I could get my hands on it and restore it after all in another 70 years it might be scruffy again giving someone else pleasure restoring it.

Thanks Tony for the additional toner information and I’d like to add a few thoughts on the subject. I agree totally that cutting through on corners is a major hazard and so easily done in a number of stages whilst restoring a cabinet and must be guarded against. Your reference to using dyes for French polishing is spot on.

I had another restless night in bed last night as I was thinking about using an airbrush for applying dye for anyone seriously into French polishing. I bought a brand new compressor with two airbrushes as a friend informed me he had used an airbrush for applying shellac. I couldn’t get mine to spray only produce vast amounts of fumes so gave up. I would need to experiment but think it highly possible with practice to actually apply dye or stain much more accurately with an airbrush than by using a spray can and the cost would be low regarding material. (My compressor and two airbrushes cost approximately £60) Have you ever seen this done Tony or done it yourself? By using an airbrush more control could be exercised together with the dye or stain not obscuring the grain but enhancing it.

Like with Tony’s information I’m always interested to hear in depth detail on re-finishing a cabinet as I still have a lot to learn.

This Bush is now working; after pulling the valves and testing them and checking only to find decent voltages on all the pins I did a bit of disturbance testing to find the fault was only a poor aerial connection; this was strange because I had already tried the connection.

I’ll spend a bit of time and convert my notes into an article and submit it for the editor’s consideration for inclusion in the “Bulletin”. Regards, Col.
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