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Hey everyone,

I am just starting my first French Polish. So far it seems to be going fairly well, but I have a question. As I am going along, the pad seems to be leaving swirl marks. I figured that came with the territory a little, but they seem really prominent. I'm still figuring this out, but I wondered if anyone had any tips that might help out. Thanks

Hello
Not much help but ive been bookmarking f/p videos recently
Theirs some excellent videos on youtube
Whose methods are you following ?

Theirs a fella with the name weeping zee guitars that pretty thorough ...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1rJHlndf1mw

Tomas

My guess, without looking over your shoulder, is that you are using a pad that is too wet. Remember, just a very few drops of shellac and a drop of alcohol on the pad. Apply and look for the 'fog' as the Milburn's put it on their very comprehensive tutorial at their website: http://www.milburnguitars.com/frenchpolish.html

Let what you have already applied dry overnight and then sand it back with some 400 to get rid of the swirl marks and then start again. Take your time.... French Polishing is kind of a 'Zen' endeavor. Get into the rhythm, let your upper body contribute to the movement, not just your lower arm and wrist. (Believe me, this will help a lot and should also help greatly reduce the strain from the repetitive exercise. My first FP guitar ended up with me having 1/2" high knot of overworked tendons on my upper forearm... What ever you do, don't be in a hurry. French polishing if nothing else will teach you to be patient.

YMMV ... good luck

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Peter

I think my pad was pretty wet. I tried a little more with a different pad and it seemed to go on a lot better. Am I going to get little swirl marks no matter what or should it go on perfectly smooth if I am doing it right? Thanks for the help

When building up the finish some swirl marks are inevitable. You can sand back between sessions if you like but by doing so you are removing some of the shellac you just put down. If you just keep building the process will go quicker and you can sand back just once at the end, at least that's what I do. To keep the effect to a minimum I vary my pattern with the mouse from around the shape spiraling in to back and forth across and then back and forth up and down through each session.

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Brian

You never know what you are capable of until you actually try.

https://www.howardguitarsdelaware.com/

You should spirit off (Stiff off) after about 15 minutes of finishing a body session. This process is putting only alcohol on the pad and working with the grain in long strokes with some pressure. This process will remove the swirl marks if they aren't too severe. This should, ideally, take the place of sanding. if you haven't seen a tutorial or read the Milburn one, you should. Never take a pad that will leave a wet spot on a piece of paper to the instrument. I use a paper towel and tap on it till it barely leaves a mark. When stiffing, glide on and off, working from the tail to the heel, and from the heel to the tail. Some people say you should always work in one direction for each session, but I tend to go back and forth.

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Waddy

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Sound Clips of most of my guitars

Thanks for the tips guys! I'm not going to be able to do much else for a few days ( gotta go back to college and set up my shop there) but once I get going I'll let you know how things work.

Got my shop here at college all set up! I started polishing more today and its looking pretty good ( I think, I've got nothing to compare it to). So I got rid of the swirl marks and it seems to be going on fairly smooth and building nicely. Next question, how much is enough? Thanks for the help guys

Best to judge that by the way it looks. I keep going until it shines like glass all on it's own, though it may not be perfectly smooth at that point. After which I give a bit of a wetsand at 1200 grit and polish out with Novus.

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Brian

You never know what you are capable of until you actually try.

https://www.howardguitarsdelaware.com/

Brian, which Novus do you use?

Novus #2 , it's my favorite polish for finish repairs as well. Using it in conjunction with a felt block works great.

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Brian

You never know what you are capable of until you actually try.

https://www.howardguitarsdelaware.com/