Finishing
stages and stiffing off:
Recently, I
was asked about this crucial stage in French polishing.
This section
is about the final process during French polishing, it is known as stiffing
off, what this means is, that when you have finished building up to a high
shine on your surface and now need to leave the surface with a streak-free
finish.
The way to
achieve this is while you have enough linseed oil on your polished surface and
before your rubber starts to begin to drag, you should now begin to polish in
the direction of the grain only, should you do this method you will soon begin to see that eventually the oil marks left by your rubber, will start to follow
your rubber direction.
Keep this up
until you need to charge your rubber with some more French polish, open your
rubber and apply the polish and this time add a very small amount of Methylated
spirits, reshape your rubber and continue to polish with the grain using light and
even pressure and you will soon see a very high shine begin to appear.
This is what
I do; once my surface starts to become clear I change my rubber rag for a fresh
cloth and then continue to polish with the grain until all of the oil has been
worked out of the surface.
This will
take some time and patience but your hard work will be rewarded with an
outstanding shine to be proud of.
I hope this
will be of some help to you.
Hello from New Zealand and thank you so much for this blog. You have provided a wealth of information.
ReplyDeleteI have a specific question regarding the final process, which I am about to do on an antique Kauri dressing table.
When stiffing off do you keep your rubber lubricated with a little linseed oil in the same way you do during building up? I don't want to assume either way. I'm guessing you don't, but I'm not sure.
I hope this does not come across as a really dumb question, but this is only the second item I've ever tried to French Polish.
Thank you!
Hello Lara,
DeleteWelcome to a visitor from New Zealand.
No, you must slowly remove all the oil from your rubber/surface either by changing the rag several times, or you could with great care add a tiny drop of Methylated spirits inside your rubber but not too much or you will do harm to your finish. Your question is in no way dumb and I pleased to be able to help! Perhaps you could practice your polishing on a piece of smooth timber first, and develop your finishing off skills. Good luck with your project and thank you for your kind remarks. Regards, Andrew.