How To French Polish - Part 1 of 3

Simon served a traditional apprenticeship at the Dartington Trust owned Staverton Joinery in the late 1980's and established Gilboy's Furniture restoration soon after finishing his time at the joinery. Now nearly 30 years later is sharing all his years of knowledge.

The art of French Polishing was traditionally a prized skill handed down by craftsmen to their apprentices and only the chosen few were privy to this 'one on one' disclosure of knowledge.

This is part one of three demonstrating the processes required to create a French Polished finish.

Index
00:00 Introduction
00:50 A piece of old Georgian (1770 - 1780) mahogany
01:40 Cleaning
02:45 Applying methylated spirits (denatured alcohol)
05:14 STAGE 1: Staining
10:36 Staining result
11:39 STAGE 2: Grain filling
19:22 Grain filling result
20:33 STAGE 3: Sealing the wood with French Polish (Shellac)
20:53 Choosing a French Polish
22:00 Using a fad to apply French polish
22:56 Charging the fad with polish
23:21 Preparing the fad
23:58 How to applying French polish using a fad
25:08 Other wood sealers
26:36 Adding further coats of polish
28:35 French polishing results (so far...)

Check out our furniture restoration help & advice guides on our website: https://gilboys.co.uk/pages/faq