Jonathan - 11-25-2007 at 08:18 AM
I have heard people refer to older ouds as often having a French polish.
Is this actually the case, or is it simply a matter of them having multiple thin layers of shellac?
Do people still French polish, or is this simply a lost art? When the term is currently used, is it simply being used to indicate multiple thin
layers of shellac?
journeyman - 11-25-2007 at 02:07 PM
I have a nylon string guitar with a French polish on the top. The builder, Kenny Hill, claims that it allows the wood to vibrate more. I suspect that
unless you compare it with a heavily lacquered top it would be hard to notice the difference. It does look nice though, and ages with a lovely hue. It
is soft, but can be touched up easily with the right technique. As for ouds, I had a Shehata once that I ordered with a French polish. It appeared to
have that same "soft" luster that my guitar top has. It is a resin finish that is mixed with thinners and applied with a cloth and a LOT of rubbing;
very labour intensive so I am told. Kenny Hill also likes it because he feels it connects him to an "old world" form of craftsmanship. Perhaps there
are people on this forum who do French polishing.
Roy
Jonathan - 11-25-2007 at 02:21 PM
I appreciate the info. I have tried in the past to find people that do traditional french polishing, but have not had much success. I have a couple
of older ouds that really need to be refinished, but I want to stick with a traditional finish, such as a french polish.
SamirCanada - 11-25-2007 at 08:48 PM
I have used french polishing for ouds that I worked on.
it makes you break a sweat though... but I find enjoyable to do and the result is very nice.
I use the techniques described in this online tutorial. if you follow the steps there you will have a perfect finish.
http://www.milburnguitars.com/fpbannerframes.html
If I can do you can master it Jonathan!!
