French Polish Repair Techniques (including refinish)
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- Опубліковано 7 лют 2025
- Heat and water damage, loose veneer, dents or gouges - this video will show you a way to tackle them. I also go as far as a full refinish. I recommend an expert for valuable items, BUT, anyone... ↓↓↓ Scroll down for more info ↓↓↓ Links ↓↓↓ Etc. ↓↓↓
with a little practice in these techniques can have a go, and produce a pretty good result, as you'll see.
Product links:
Card scraper - amzn.to/2UIYhFC
Detergent - amzn.to/3iMTBXu
White spirit - amzn.to/3zuOLov
Metal polish - amzn.to/3zBFkDx
0000 Steel wool - amzn.to/3kUdnDc
Methylated spirit - amzn.to/3rvjjUk
Dry iron - amzn.to/3eUoTum
Cotton wool - amzn.to/36WD9OM
Lint free cloth - amzn.to/2UO6PLB
French polish (pre-mixed) - amzn.to/37enD13
Shellac flakes - amzn.to/3rCMqVF
Linseed oil - amzn.to/3y3oSvK
Shellac sticks - amzn.to/3kPVVj2 amzn.to/3zxZJcJ amzn.to/3x38r1c
Pumice powder - amzn.to/3BHPtAO
Dusting brush - amzn.to/3zt2oo2
(All these my affiliate links to the products I use in the video, or very similar to.)
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Cheers, Mitch
Useful to explain how to recognise a French polished finish versus lacquer or varnish.
Showing ALL the possible approaches one could carry out. Excellent.
Cheers
I've just got a beautiful little coffee table from Freecycle with some watermarks on the top, watching your brilliant crystal clear tutorial I feel confident to have a go and restore it. Many thanks.
Good luck with the table. Don't forget to do a test patch somewhere out of sight.
Thanks so much. I have a dining table with a veneer and french polish and it's in very bad shape. Lots of clouds, marks & chios. it doesn't have much value to us so worth a go at repair. This video is oh so helpful.
That sounds the ideal project to try out out on. Good luck
Thank you. I've always thought that I'd have to get the experts in to repair a 1930's cabinet. One of the most beautiful pieces of furniture I've ever seen. Ruined by a cup and heat😪 I always felt heartbroken over it.
Until today 🌞 THANK YOU. I'm very hands on and I'm confident I can do this myself.. I actually enjoyed your video so much I've decided I may just get into this furniture repair thing. A new career coming my way way maybe.. crazy I was not expecting that.. again thanks for the repair advice in your video but also for presenting it in such a way you've sparked an interest.
Have a wonderful day 😁🙏☀️☀️☀️
Thanks. DO PRACTICE before starting on the cabinet! Good luck.
Great vid - just what I needed for my DIY job!
Cheers. Hope it goes well
Thanks for this, ive got a walnut piano that needs a refinish so will be using your method thanks again
I am impressed how many informations you managed to share in this short wideo. Thanks a lot!
Thanks Piotr
A list of the materials you used together with hyperlinks of where to buy those materials would be handy for the beginner
Good idea
All done now!
Thanks a mill. Great video. I'll be playing it for my woodworking students in class tomorrow. Nice one.
Fantastic - hope it helps, and that they don't get their rubbers stuck!
@@mitchwoodwork 11 months late but that sounds like a sex joke hahaha
Nice video Mitch.
I did not know that kind of french polish repair yet.
Because of the raised veneer, you can very well stick it back with an iron. Because the veneer was glued with bone glue (glutin glue) earlier.
I know it like that.
Wash with hot water and brush the shellac.
Repair damaged areas (with scrap card).
Then fill pores with pumice, shellac and isopropanol (isopropanol does not dissolve the shellac, but alcohol).
When pores are filled, start with gloss polishing (shellac and isopropanol).
Günter Schöne Cheers Günter.
If the isoproponol doesn't dissolve the shellac, how does that work. Maybe I'm missing something ;-)
Sorry, Mitch.
I expressed myself wrong.
For a shellac polish, mix shellac with isopropanol.
This is applied in several layers (passages), in between you can dry the shellac polish.
By using isopropanol, the dried shellac is not dissolved.
But what happens if you mix the shellac with alcohol (like ethanol).
Hope it is easier to understand.
Did that look at a carpenter, who has some videos on UA-cam.
Günter Schöne I shall try it! Cheers
Thank you very much great tutorial.Keep up the great work
Glad it helped
very good , you are spot on .... and I liked your advise , RAF
Cheers Richard
Great explanation!
I’ve been using canola oil, which, as is the case with linseed, is a “drying” oil. On a recent project where I took my time, I started having problems during spiriting which I think might have been caused by the oil starting to polymerize. I stripped it all off and started over using olive oil instead. I hope that does the trick!
Cheers. Never tried olive oil, interesting idea.
Nice clip and good advices, but the pumice powder is to be used with the first cote of shellack. That anables it to enter all the pores of the wood when they are widely open. Using it at the end or with the third or fourth cote it will not enter into the wood to create perfectly "glassy" surface.
Thanks for the advice, I'll try that.
Excellent, thanks for the tips.
I'm going to practice this for some instruments I'm building.
Cheers. Practice is key, and will give you the confidence and technique to overcome any problems as they occur.
Great video Mr. Mitch! I love learning techniques of refinishing/finishing. Thanks!
Kevin Halsey Cheers Kevin, glad you liked it
The first couple of coats can be brushed on to get a base built up quicker. You have to let it dry a little longer. Also, with the shellac sticks you can apply with a palate knife you have heated with an alcohol lamp. You can blend colors to get a better color match if you need to. When it is nearly level, use a scraper to finish leveling. Paraffin is what is used for a lubricant, not linseed. One drop. Turn all the cut edges of your rubber in so that you don't accidentally get a thread or fiber in your finish. That will make you very unhappy.
Never heard of using paraffin to lubricate, I shall have to try that. Cheers
I’m very interested in how to bring back old finishes with out losing patina, and removing all the original finish.
There's lots of differing advice out there, but I'm by no means an expert in that field.
Very interesting Video. French Polish is an art that is increasingly forgotten.
I'm always glad when I see someone doing a french polish :-)
If you are interested I made a video about french polishing some time ago.
Cheers
Fabian
Cheers Fabian. Your video is great, and I recommend anyone to visit your channel to check it out.
There is an actual tool mildly resembling a wooden body plane with a corrugated edged ‘card scraper’ type tool with the blade set at 82 degrees angle popularized in the 17th C that was specifically for easing damaged finish off a compromised veneer. I found one of these while building up my plane collection and have used it ever since.
Never seen one, but I'll keep my eyes open for one.
Very well presented. I learned a bit. USA
Thanks
Very helpful - thank you!
Cheers
Couldn't really admire the finished product due to the ads for the other videos popping up on the screen... but the little I could see looked well done. Are you going to post a photo(s) of the completed tabletop when you finish the entire surface?
Ray Roberts I would do, but, since it has no home, I've no immediate plans to finish it. There's edge banning missing, so I may do a video on repairing that when things quieten down a bit. That would be a reason to crack out the French polish again too, so I could finish the top off nicely.
I'll post a photo on social media of the top as it is now, but that is cut back and waxed, as it was when the video ended
Great information, Mitch. I could sure have used this method 25 years ago before I sanded right through the veneer :>(.
Oops. Well, I've done the same in the past too
Why did you carefully clean the old policed surface so throughly only to remove the old varnish down to the venire?
I didn't want to risk any surface dirt or wax contaminating the bare wood as I revealed it
Superb, thank you so much I can’t wait to get started. You are amazing 😉
Thanks. Do please have a practice before tackling anything you value!
Really great video and talk through. Thank you so much.
Cheers Paul
Thanks
Cheers
good video nice pace of delivery gave me time to make notes, thank you
Thanks!
Good experiment sir
Thanks!
Great channel and content. A pleasure to subscribe 💋💋
Would it not be better to grain fill before polishing at all ? New to this and am curious , Cheers
I'm no expert. This way was learnt from an old book or two, and works well for me
@@mitchwoodwork ah fair yeah I guess thats the way with things , everyone feels their own way through it , your video just saved my ass with something important man , so thanks a million !
Can you use a microfiber cloth for lint free cotton cloth?
I've never tried David. The important thing is that fibers don't easily fall out or pull out and get stuck in the polish. I suggest trying it out. If you do, please let me know how it goes
Will do!
Good job
Cheers!
Good intro to polishing. Thanks. Quick question. What do you use for something like a plane handle to give it a dark stain?
Thanks. I'd probably use Garnet Shellac for a gloss finish, or mix a spirit dye with some tung oil or boiled linseed oil for a matt or semi-matt finish.
@@mitchwoodwork Thanks. I forgot to mention that the front handle I made from some firewood (oak). Would that give me the same finish? Probably not. Wood I be better off redoing the handle in a Mahoney or another darker hardwood. What would you rec?
Beech is commonly used for these, but oak should be fine and you may get some lovely looking rays showing. If you're trying to match the rear handle, scrap the finish back from the underside to check it is beech, or whatever else, and turn a new knob in the same wood. Colour matching the oak to the rear handle can be done by building up the coats until they are the same in the case of shellac. Dyes are more of an experiment that you should try on some spare oak
@@mitchwoodwork Thank you.
Very nice vid. Mitch. Thanks.
Michael Claussen cheers Michael
Great Info Mitch, I don't have 'Old' furniture with Shellac, I do use it on small ornamental pieces I make, but 'Polly' on my Furniture. Would Sugar soap be to harsh a detergent for that stage??? Have you tried Plaster of Paris as grain filler? I've had a good result on a coffee table I made recently using it as the filler
Peter Compton Cheers Peter. I've not used sugar soap for anything other than decorating, and my experience of it for that is that it's strong stuff! I just use a little hand detergent myself.
I've not used plaster of paris as a grain filler, but I've heard of French chalk being used.
Maybe I'll experiment when I get a chance.
Ensure that any cutting/polishing compounds, especially ones for use on metal or paint, do not contain silicon. Or later finishes may be badly compromised.
Thanks, good point
Great job. Do you have a video on mixing shellac flakes orange ? Kind regards Danny UK
Cheers Danny. I don't recall doing such a video. 1lb of flakes to 1gallon of meth's is a good starting ratio. Obviously only make up a volume that you're likely to use within a month, as it doesn't store too well. Keep agitating the mix every few hours, and within a day the flakes should have all dissolved.
@@mitchwoodwork Great thanks for your advice. Take care... have a great Christmas. Kind regards Danny
thanks man !!! from West of Ireland
NIce job and very informative, thank you. :D
Thanks
excellent
Cool thanks 👍👍👍
Cheers Martin
Thanks. Good video. Doh -- you could have just compared pictures before and after instead of doubling your work :)
Why didn't I think of that :D
when you say light detergent do you mean fairy or equivalent
That should be fine, but only a couple of drops in a cup of warm water
So does all this rubbing of alcohol and spirits on ones bare skin/hands not bother anyone???
Probably safer than drinking it
For the love of god, just strip the thing back to bare wood sand all your scratches out and bring it back to brand new.
Would probably strip the veneer.
@@RoboKestrel No it wouldn't, paint stripper is chemical very harsh, get it on your skin and you will know exactly what I mean. But I have never known it affect the glue. It might if you were to leave it on there for days at a time, but he is only stripping French Polish and the stripper would only take a couple of minutes to soften it before cleaning off and neutralizing.
Could have saved all that work by applying citric acid. Had a stereo console that look way worse than than with dark and light stains and everything came right off with the finish
Why use a scrapper, just use a thin coat of paint stripper.
This is a job for experts 3yrs training it makes a frenchpolisher cringe watching it, none of this videos show how to make rubber correctly first thing you learn and a boat 2nd let alone touching up with pigments and polish like an artist
Long process, just sand the top with 240, and French it
I will respectfully dislike your video and post comments as you have asked us too , its nothing personal
for starters your technique of stripping the piece is only going to mar and scratch the wood more then it already has been , you truly butchered the table by doing that scraping thing. These old finishes fall right off with just a little brush of stripper , sand it down and you would of had a great piece to work with
Secondly how are you going to use metal polish to polish a table with such a badly deteriorated finish ? In many areas there is no finish to speak of, what are you going to polish the wood itself? Using polish of any kind to try to save a badly damaged piece is only a temporary hack, no one would pay you for it.
Thirdly why would you wait until you start to polish the wood before filling the holes and imperfectons? that's all supposed to be done when the table is down to the bare wood. do all your filling and sanding before you proceed to refinishing.
Overall it just doesn't seem like you have much real world experience with this , maybe as a personal hobby but paying customers wont give you any money for this kind of work
I will start making my own videos soon, feel free to critique mine as well
I appreciate your words of wisdom, and will experiment with the techniques when I next pick up a scrap of french polished furniture.
The video description did say these were simple things anyone could try, and not an alternative to seeking an expert repair. I'm certainly no expert, but these tips were all published by "so-called" restoration experts in books or magazines I've read over the years, and I have been happy with the improvements they have made on the limited number of repairs I've made.
Cheers
you have a point,this is right performance
French polishing is dead
Terrible work.