The struggles to learn the art of, French polishing.
For me, it all began back in
1968 the days of the Beatles and flower power, back then if you made a good
enough effort to find a job you could.
When I left school I was
unsure what I should do with myself and what path to take? As I have mentioned in an earlier post on my
Blog site I did not like School and the bureaucracy that went with it, years later
I was described by a fellow French polisher he stated “That I was a rebel
without a cause” Perhaps that is a good description of me! Several years later this same man was sacked
for stealing from the company that we both worked for so much for his
righteousness.
Well, I walked the streets
of London looking for work, and the only thing I thought I could do is work
with wood, my Father had been a Carpenter & Joiner in his earlier days so
perhaps my passion for wood came from him?
Eventually, I found
employment as a French polisher for a very famous London West End Store where I
served a Four & Half years Apprenticeship, during those years, I spent my
days as a typical apprentice first job would be to sweep up the entire
workshop, then go and empty all the very heavy metal rubbish bins onto a truck
that used to come once a week.
After that job I was
responsible for filling the French polisher’s bottles with French polish, then
another with white spirits and so on.
I found that most of the
French polisher’s would not wish to teach me or pass on their skills, as they
perhaps felt that one day I would take their jobs, little did they know.
The way that I tried to
break the code of silence was to try and befriend and help the polisher’s by
doing this slowly they started to impart their knowledge.
Only after I had earned the
respect of the French polisher’s would they then show me how to strip off the
polish from whatever item was in the workshop at the time, then I was asked to
do all of the stripping processes as you could imagine not a very pleasant job.
Many days, I would go home
and be really sad and did not want to go back in to work the next day, but when
I spoke to my Father he encouraged me to continue with my training, and looking
back he was right.
Well, I stuck my
apprenticeship out to the end of its course and the day came for me to receive
my Certificate of completion. This was
great and I felt so proud of myself I had achieved something.
Most of my friends at that
time were working on digging holes in roads and doing heavy manual work earning
better money than I, but for me, it was not about the money I wanted to learn a
trade that no matter if I never used my new skills again during my life I could
always fall back on my trade should the need arise.
Now my apprenticeship was
over I had to leave the company and move on this was very common then as it was
considered that the young person, would gain more experience within another
company, at the time I did not believe this or understand the logic behind this
but now I do understand, as when I moved to another company I did learn some
different techniques and skills, and it seems that French polishing is a
lifelong learning experience as there is always something new coming along to
learn or at least try.
Well, I don’t know
everything about French polishing, as that would just be pure arrogant and that
is one thing I hate about some people that go through their lives being that
way.
French polishing has not
been an easy career choice, and since I have been self-employed for the past twenty-eight years life has not always been easy!
As with recessions coming and going and customers looking to keep their
costs to a limit makes for a hard life.
For me, I have an easy-going
personality and take every day as it comes and this has stood me in good
stead.
Most people that I come
across are too afraid to try self-employment as they are naturally afraid about
what happens if the work dries up? This
is something that I have become used to however, I believe that if I do a good
job and the client is happy with my work they will return to me again with more
work or at least a recommendation.
For me, as with any
self-employed person, a good recommendation is very important with this in mind
and having done some good quality works, has given me some very good clients of
note that do return to me as and when a problem arises.
If you are new to French polishing
or considering becoming one ask yourself do you want to become rich? Or do I want to be work satisfied? Because at the end of the day most people
that I speak to are certainly not happy with their jobs and would love to work
for themselves but lack the conviction required to survive on their own in
this big wide world.
It does take a great deal
of determination when the phone does not ring and Christmas is coming up
etc. You get the picture!
For me, ever the optimist
and still a rebel and will not change now, I love what I do and really enjoy my
work even though it is very hard work that requires great patience something
that I have in abundance.
Should you wish to become a
French polisher? I wish you every
success.
Learn as much as you can
and make the best use of your skills, never become secretive with things you learn
in and throughout your life why? You ask
because “There is nothing in life that isn't known” in the words of the great
John Lennon. How true.
I hope that this has been
of interest to you? If so hit the
comment tab below and I shall reply to you.
Thanks for reading.
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