French polish v Lacquer

Something to ponder over!

Firstly French polish holds its own on antique furniture, as a beautiful high shine can be achieved, and if looked after should and can last for many years to come.

However, the down side is, that it is prone to ring marking and also heat marks, and takes such a long time to dry out ready for use.

Also, to learn how to French polish can take years, and if not taught by a competent teacher will take even longer, as you cannot learn the skills of how much polish to apply and the amount of pressure needed at the various stages through out the process from a book, you have to learn by spending day after day at it until you reach the desired effect.

Lacquer however, is much easier to apply either by brush or spray gun, and requires very little skill needed.

The good points of lacquer, are that it is a relatively tough finish that can stand greater heat resistance and therefore less prone to the usual ring markings that we see on French polished surfaces everywhere.

To back up my statement recently, I was called to take a look ate some bedroom furniture, well as soon as I entered the room, I suddenly remembered that I had worked on this bedroom suite seventeen years ago!  And despite the small damaged area on the dressing table top, the rest of the furniture was in excellent condition it was like seeing an old friend again it gave me great pleasure and the customer was amazed to hear, that it was I that had carried out the work all those years ago.

Some people are put off by the word lacquered finish, well they have been around for years now, and it seems that people perhaps are not aware of the qualities that lacquer can provide, and only by writing about the subject, can perhaps change their perspective, it is not a cheaper alternative or a quick fix as many believe as the products required are not  cheap or inferior in any way.
I hope this will help put some miss conceptions on this subject to rest.
As always your feedback is very welcome.

Spray Guns

In a twist to my usual information about French polishing, I thought it was about time to get up to date and talk about the use of spray guns.

Let’s first take a look at my spray gun, this is I think a good make, and being at the lower end of the price scale for this particular company, I paid about One Hundred pounds inclusive of a trade discount so not that cheap.

As you can see that I have dismantled it in order to give it a good clean.

This is a must as this will give you a much better finish from start to completion of your project.

It is very important to ensure that the nozzle holes are kept clear, and another point to look out for; is the hole in the top of the pot because if this is blocked airflow will cease to allow the lacquer to flow freely.

Before putting it back together, I always oil all the threads and the needle together with the spring and in doing so; will ensure that all parts operate correctly.

Don’t forget to change the pot filters, as I have found they soon become blocked and once again the lacquer will not spray freely, I have often soaked the filters in thinners and then brushed out the debris, it is amazing just how much stubborn build-up of lacquer that comes out.

When purchasing a spray gun, it pays to do the research and try to buy the best you can afford the model I have, is tricky to get spares for as I found out when the connector thread at the bottom of the gun became loose and then cross-threaded itself, I was lucky to obtain a replacement so all ended fine for me.

I do not wish to advertise or endorse the above spray gun; it is for reference purposes only.

Once again hoping this will be of use to you.

Feedback is always welcome.

Is French polishing dead?

Hand French polished!

Well, this is something I have been asked many times since I first started French polishing back in 1968.

Speaking for myself, I have mixed feelings and am forever the optimist. Well with the onset of stores selling flat-packed furniture that can be taken home and then assembled for customer’s convenience, as opposed to the more traditional furniture that has graced our homes for centuries.

 I am a great believer that an old piece of furniture, should it be in need of restoration to bring it back to its former glory, looks much better than the bland modern furniture of today, that has only a short working life span.

Together with the recession throughout the economy, people are cutting back on their spending.

It would appear to me that French polishing has moved way down the list of people’s priorities.

However, there does seem to be a resurgence in the interest in the subject of French polishing as a whole, as this is borne out by my role as a tutor in the subject with many more people choosing to learn French polishing for either a hobby or in some cases a career.

Together with the increase in much faster drying finishes and lacquers, have also helped in the decline in the use of French polish, the skills to learn French polishing take many years to learn and develop and together with the very limited number of training facilities make it even harder to learn such a complex subject.

Many people underestimate just how many processes are involved in French polishing such as preparation i.e. stripping, sanding, staining, sealing and French polishing, then you have to learn colour matching, making good damage and touching out marks and much more and don’t forget wood identification, to say the least.

And on that note, I put the question out to you!  Do you think that French polishing is dead?  I would welcome what you have to say on the subject and once again thank you for taking the time to read my posts and I hope you find them both informative and enjoyable.

Oak cabinet top refurbishment

On this project, I was asked to strip off the old finish to get back to the wood as the client wanted the surface to match with the flooring.

Method:

I used a very sharp scraper to remove the old coating and this also helped to keep down any dust, as I swept with my dusting brush all the debris into a plastic bag.

Then I was given a two-part lacquer by the client I applied the first coat of lacquer and left it to dry overnight as per instructions then the next day applied the second coat of lacquer that went on shiny but later dried to a very matt finish again left to dry then returned the next day for the final coat.

As you can see the client had the remainder of the unit painted not by me as shown not sure that I like that but it does not belong to me!

The customer is always right…

Please note the date year on the pictures should show the year 2014

Comments and feedback are very welcome.

Rubber pressure & application!

Hello,

Today, I would like to talk to you about a common problem that I have observed whilst carrying out my duties as a French polishing tutor, recently I have noticed that some of my learners are not polishing with a correctly made up rubber and therefore, unable to shape their rubber to be able to obtain a flat and even surface.

Once you have made your polishing rubber correctly, you should use clean white paper or rag gently bang the rubber down onto the paper or rag so as to establish a flat surface on your rubber.

If you don’t polish with a flat rubber surface, you will and as I have recently observed during the polishing process not be able to transfer sufficient polish and the visible oil streaks will appear much thinner like crescent lines on the polished surface.

Instead the rubber whilst in use should leave behind a wide oil pattern as wide as the rubber surface itself.

For further information regarding how to make a rubber please go to my post French polishing and Rubber making dated 31 / 01 / 2011 you can find this post by scrolling down on the right hand side until you come to posts written during 2011.

Thank you for taking the time to read my posts!

 Regards,

Andrew.

Broken the 20,000 viewer barrier!

A big thank you all for helping me break the 20,000 reader score that I hoped would happen.

It makes me very happy to see the figures growing day by day, I shall continue to add useful tips and information that I think will be relevant to your needs.

Let me know if any of my information has been of use to you?  I have had some very good feedback from only a relatively few people since I started my blog.

 Seems you are happy with what I choose to write about.

I make no money from doing this, however; I can earn a very small amount if viewers should choose to click on the advertising video on the right-hand side of the page and just take time to view it.

Please only view the advert if you are interested in the subject.

I thought that you would be interested to know my top ten viewing Countries:

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My blog now goes out to 74 Countries around the World and seemingly growing all the time.

Thank you all.

Andrew.

Bureau Restoration

Today, I would like to show you a Bureau that I have just restored

Once again I had to remove the old finish and as this Bureau caucus was made of solid Oak this allowed me to sandpaper off the surface, however, the fall was veneered so I had been very careful not to sand through the surface.

Sanding saved some time and also removed the surface scratches and stain marks etc.

Then onto the staining, the choice best suited was Medium Oak as this brings out the beauty of the wood.

Once repairs were completed, then over to a spray finish for a longer and I felt tougher finish for an everyday used item.

This item would not have been French polished due to its relative modern production.

Comments are most welcome!