Buffing Question

[Tavy]

A trivial question for you all, but I got curious how others approach this...

So... you've broken open the Maguiars, and buffed your FP to within an inch of it's life... spent 10 minutes admiring your reflection in the finish and thinking that "You're Da Man"... and then you realise that's there's still some excess Maguiars to clean off the finish... what do you all use?

In the past I've always used a damp cloth, but normally I won't let water/moisture anywhere near my shellac, so this time I tried a touch of napha and then a clean dry cloth... but this was only partly successful... still a few smeary bits left...

Thoughts?

Many thanks, John.

[Dale Ludewig]

I think a damp cloth would be safe, but don't sue me! If the shellac won't handle that much moisture, you're in trouble. MHO.

[Jim Hilburn]

I've always used Maguiar's Final Inspection which is a water-thin final cleanup and shine product. no silicone and I've used it on shellac and oil with no problems.

[Darryl Wolfe]

I've always used Maguiar's Final Inspection which is a water-thin final cleanup and shine product. no silicone and I've used it on shellac and oil with no problems.

We learn something new every day. I have not seen that product around here, but sounds like a must have.

[Jim Hilburn]

It comes in a spray bottle unless you buy a gallon like I did. Should be at any auto supply that carries Maguiars.

[Darryl Wolfe]

It comes in a spray bottle unless you buy a gallon like I did. Should be at any auto supply that carries Maguiars.

Ah..spray bottle Thanks

[Gail Hester]

Out of curiosity I’m wondering why you are buffing or using abrasives on a newly French polished finish?

A French-polished finish of shellac is only a few micro layers thick, very shinny and should require very little if any buffing. It will not stand up to much buffing when it’s first applied. The only additional step usually is to remove the residual oil from the French Polishing process. I also use Maguiar's Final Inspection or Jubilee polish to clean off the oil when needed.

[woodwiz]

A note about shellac: It doesn't hold up to alcohol or heat / steam, but a few years ago I took some freshly made shellac and padded some on a piece of wood until I had built up a film. Not French polishing, just padding. After it had thoroughly dried, I put a few drops of water on it, covered it with a glass, and left it for a couple of days. No visible marks or damage to the shellac. None whatsoever.

I don't think I'd do that with Bullseye, but freshly made-up shellac has pretty good water resistance at room temperature. I wouldn't want to spill a cocktail on it, or put a hot casserole on it, though.

[buddyellis]

While we are on the Meguiars subject, I'm looking for something to replace the #2 step of the three step crystal polish system (it no longer seems available) and I was looking at #205. This looks like it might be similar, and #105 would be equivilant to the #1 of the three part system but I'm not sure. Has anyone had any experience? Both are body shop ready, so no silicones. I'd really like to buy a gallon of it, but I wanted to know if anyone had ever used #205 before I put $50 into something.

http://www.autogeek.net/meguiars-6inch-polish-kit.html

[amowry]

I use water to clean shellac surfaces, and I use water to wet sand shellac, with no problems.I use dewaxed shellac, mind you.

[Michael Lewis]

I'm with Gail on this, when you are done french polishing there should be no need to buff or polish. Near the end of the process you let the pad get progressively drier in both shellac and oil, this lays down progressively thinner and thinner layers until it is putting down nearly nothing but smoothing the surface to a gloss. I don't buff or polish at the end of the process, that's for lacquer.

[HoGo]

I use both attitudes. In the large open areas the FP doesn't need anything, just cleaning the oil but in some tight areas where pad cannot reach I use some abrasive polishing/buffing.

[Tavy]

Out of curiosity I’m wondering why you are buffing or using abrasives on a newly French polished finish?

A French-polished finish of shellac is only a few micro layers thick, very shinny and should require very little if any buffing. It will not stand up to much buffing when it’s first applied. The only additional step usually is to remove the residual oil from the French Polishing process. I also use Maguiar's Final Inspection or Jubilee polish to clean off the oil when needed.

Good question - I freely admit to being a relative beginner at FP'ing, so I've been using the excellent Milburn guitar tutorial as my guide - and they do polish/buff as the final step (see the end of the glazing section).

That said, I'm not completely convinced that the buffing has much if anything to add to the finish.

Thanks for everyone elses input on this... looks like I'll just go back over with a damp cloth and just not worry about it - or at least worry less

Cheers, John.

[amowry]

I do some final polishing, especially in problem areas, like Adrian mentioned. There's a difference between French polishing on top of oil varnish, which is what Gail is talking about, and building the entire finish by French polishing, which it sounds like John is doing, and which is what the Milburn tutorial describes. If you've built the whole finish by French polishing, it's plenty thick for some buffing, though you can get witness lines if it's not completely amalgamated.

[Dick Hutchings]

"if it's not completely amalgamated."
I didn't think that was even possible with shellac.

[Tavy]

I do some final polishing, especially in problem areas, like Adrian mentioned. There's a difference between French polishing on top of oil varnish, which is what Gail is talking about, and building the entire finish by French polishing, which it sounds like John is doing, and which is what the Milburn tutorial describes. If you've built the whole finish by French polishing, it's plenty thick for some buffing, though you can get witness lines if it's not completely amalgamated.

Correct: the finish I'm building up is all french polished shellac (plus a touch of gum sandarac).

Cheers, John.

PS I didn't think you could get witness lines if it's shellac all the way down either... I do take care to amalgamate it well though as it's built up.

[amowry]

Yes, the witness lines I see are rare, and usually in places where I used too much oil or didn't apply enough pressure. In theory I wouldn't expect to see them. Unfortunately, when it comes to finishing my expectations don't always coincide with reality .