French Polish - Success & Setback

[herickson]

Hi again,

I had asked for advice in a previous topic on how to apply French polish over a hand-rubbed sunburst (see topic: http://www.mandolincafe.net/cgi-bin....18318). (http://www.mandolincafe.net/cgi-bin/ikonboard.cgi?act=ST;f=7;t=18318).)
I got the burst pretty much the way I wanted, applied two light coats of spray shellac (Bullseye from a can), let it dry, and commenced with the FP. I got good results for the most part; no bleeding and a nice finish on most surfaces.

Buuutttt (seems there's always a but in stuff I do), I've got one big issue that is quite discouraging. There is an area on the face of the mandolin, about the size of a half-dollar, where nothing seems to absorb or stick. I hadn't noticed it after my initial coat of spray shellac, but it became quite noticable after a couple of coats of FP. I've tried going over this area several times (I even hit it again with the spray), but it continues to look like a dull, flat, dry spot. Any ideas on what could be causing this? Do you think I'll need to sand back the entire face to try and fix this? Quite frustrating as the rest of finish doesn't look half-bad. Thanks again for you thoughts and experience.

-- Herb

[Chris Baird]

That's odd, shellac will stick to almost anything. You may have gotten some silicone or something on it. You might try to clean it off with napatha, and if that doesn't work then move on to VERY light sanding so as not to mess up the stain.

[sunburst]

I was at a FP demonstration done by Sergei de Jonge. That is a problem that shows up from time to time, apparently. Several of the people that were there asked what to do with a "hole" that shows up and won't seem to take the shellac.
Sergei said you have to sort of sneak up on it from the edges. He said "you can't let that thing know you're coming". Try working the FP into the hole from around it's edges.

I've never had that happen, so I'm just passing this along. Hope it helps.

[Charlie Derrington]

You can also "scuff up " the area with 800 grit paper and dab or brush shellac directly on the spot and then French over the shellac. Do the Frenching before the brushed on shellac is completely dry.

You may also be trying to use too much lubricant on your pad.

Keep at it, you'll get it.

Charlie

[sunburst]

Yep, Sergei said you can brush or airbrush on some shellac too.

Just "don't let that thing know you're coming"http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

[herickson]

Thanks again for the replies. That's interesting about Sergei. I had taken his hands-on French Polish workshop at the Newport Guitar Festival in Newport, RI this summer. We had talked about the 'hole' effect then as well, but he indicated that it would be easier to just sand back and start over. The wood we were finishing wasn't stained or bursted, so in that case, I can see his point. Glad to hear that 'sneaking up' on the hole can help; also about direct application of the shellac. I'll give that a shot, as well as trying to clean the area and/or sanding.
-- Herb