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Hi folks.... I'm currently in the process of working on finish for my 3rd guitar. The first 2 were kits so this is really a step up:) anyway.... I've heard good things about Robbie's French finishing DVD...
My question is.... if I use this DVD as a guide will the same processes hold true for royal laq?

Here is a link to the particular DVD
http://www.lmii.com/products/media-gift ... ge-noimage

I need some good direction because what I thought would work just doesn't seem to work. I know... practice practice... I'm more than willing, but I want to get started right.

Thank you for any input....


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Here's a few pics of the instrument in question:) just for fun. There are noob mistakes, but I don't plan to let them happen again.













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Go to the Shellac Finishes website and check out Robbie's video there. The process he shows for RL there works just fine.

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

Hey Steve:)
I'll check it out. I had just seen positive reviews about the DVD from older posts and wondered if it may be more in depth.
I guess what I need to do is get some orphaned sides and just practice. Good time investment


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I've had success with the process in Robbie's video on Vijay's site.

Some people report success doing something more like regular French polishing with the Royal Laq, but I haven't been able to get the swing of it. My pad sticks and drags too soon. Could be just me, though.

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Jim Kirby
kirby@udel.edu

I've been doing more of a French polish per David Wren's video on the site. Straight Royal Lac is just too sticky to polish with IMO. I charge my pad with about half Royal Lac and half Everclear then use a bit of walnut oil on the pad (probably less than a drop). I only use the walnut oil when I start a session or if the pad starts sticking. I'm still doing final leveling with 1000 grit wet. After a 3 week cure I'll probably sand with 1200 then go to the buffer. This is before leveling and buffing.

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

I've used the French Polish method to apply Royal Lac. It is definitely stickier than regular shellac, but I didn't have any trouble with that. A little olive oil allows a normal French Polish method to work fine.

This is a little like that joke:

Patient: Doctor, will I be able to play the piano after the surgery?
Doctor: Of course!
Patient: That's funny; I couldn't before.

You can certainly French Polish with Royal Lac, but you have to be able to French Polish, period. Adjusting for the extra stickiness of Royal Lac is not a big deal, or at least, it wasn't for me. I had a tougher time opening the darn jars than doing any of the actual finishing!

So Don, do you find any need to level sand at the end? Do you "burnish" the finish? If so, can you share how? I'm just starting my french polish journey and finding I much prefer it to spraying but still need a lot of practice.

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

Well I've been honing this some today and find that a few drops of alcohol on my pad helps the finish of royal laq go a LOT smoother. The speed and pressure you use also has a lot to do with it. I just need to rinse and repeat


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Steve--

I tend to do a light wet sanding with olive oil and pretty fine wet & dry sandpaper after a series of coats have had a few days to toughen up. But, I also try to have a "pulling over" session with a mostly dry pad every so often. There's a lot of "some of this, some of that" going on with French Polishing, and Lord knows I'm no expert. Have you looked into the Tom Bills course? It is really good. I learned on my own before that course came out, but on the next few I need to finish, I'm going to try to follow Tom's course, more or less.

My break through today (although I'm Sooooooo new at this) is that using a few drops of alcohol on the pad to thin the stuff it goes on a lot slicker. It's nearly fun!
As the above poster suggested I watched the vid from robbie on how he did it.
What I'm struggling with is that I don't know what to look out for and what is a problem / looks good. In other words having so little experience it hard to know if I did it right when in the middle of the process:)
I think that's where an actual course would come into play...
There is a triad of learning that involves the following 1: research 2: practice 3: instruction.
Although vids are great having someone show you is the way to go. Unfortunately there aren't a lot of local folks here who know this art. Fortunately there is technology


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+1. You can join the Luthier's Edge and get full access to it. I have Robbie's online course as well as Tom's. Robbie's is great, but I do prefer the thoroughness of Tom's instruction and his method. I had really good results using it with Royal-Lac my first time trying it.

Thanks Dan and James, I will check out Tom's video. We were fortunate enough to have a local furniture restoration expert give a hands on course for our luthier group so that was a huge help in getting started. However, I'm still trying to dial in the process and obviously need more practice.

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

All this has me considering buying 5-6 orphaned backs and spending time on them.


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I think a single piece of wood cut in the shape of a back woud be plenty to practice on. Just follow your complete finishing process on it.

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

Brahttps://m.facebook.com/story.php?sto ... 44%2F&_rdr

Can't comment on quality but looks good.

Ok, doesn't work,

Google 68 hr French polish instruction luthier facebook

Or 'the art of French polishing video course'

Practicing is definitely a good idea. The good news is that by the time you get through the course you'll have a great feel for it because you'll have so much practice in.

Ha, no lie. The video tips about cleaning the lid and the lip of the jar are pretty crucial pointers.

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Jim Kirby
kirby@udel.edu

So has anyone actually used these videos ? They are really well made. From what I can see they are professionally done and the website is slick.


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Yeah, totally. I got the course before it was a monthly subscription, but now you can sign up for a month for $29.95 to take the course and decide if you want to stay on. It's pretty awesome. It's in-depth, too. I'd watch the intro videos and through the first session of bodying coats, do the work, watch the next section, do the work, etc. That's how I think you'd get the most out of it the first time as opposed to watching it all the way through before starting work.

Thanks James. As I say they look well done.
I'm at a point where I want to get better but I'm finding myself having some reoccurring issues. Nothing TERRIBLE, but just some points I'd like to get past.
I'll definitely look into this as an investment in building a skill. It's pretty rad when you can't do something, and one works at it... and can:) its real life leveling up;)


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I've watched all of Tom Bills' French Polishing course. It really is thorough and well done.