French Polishing – Open Grain Timber

[Kev-in Melb]

Hi all,

The traditional method of filling open grained timber in French Polishing is to apply ground pumice with the first coats. This is a time consuming process which can take 2-3 coats and 2-3 day for the filler to completely dry.

Feast Watson says that their Sanding Sealer provides a perfect base for French Polishing. Would anyone recommend this?

Or what about a burnished oil finish as a base for French Polishing?

Any feedback or suggestions would be great.

Cheers,
Kev

[RufflyRustic]

Hi Kev, Sounds like you are more than ready to read the bible - UBeaut's Book of Finishing that is.:) It's got a great section on what to do to grain fill before french polishing, and heaps on french polishing. Lots of other great stuff in it too, can't recommend it highly enough to be honest.

My gut instinct is to NOT use a burnishing oil underneath french polish.

Good luck with your project.

cheers
RufflyRustic

[Auld Bassoon]

Ruffly has said all that needs to be said - other than reinforcing her message :)

[old_picker]

Depends on the grain really. The diehards will say shellac is the way to go. With real open grain I use timbermate waterbased wood filler made into a slurry. I just slap it on with a brush and wipe it off when it has gone off a little with a credit card. I sometimes stain it up a bit to make the grain jump out. when you have cleaned up with the c/card hand sand it carefully so you don't pull up the filler. Oh and dont forget to run a thin coat of sanding sealer BEFORE putting on the grain filler. That way you will get a good contrast between the filler and wood colour. If you dont, the stain in the filler discolours the wood too much. then multicoats of s/sealer and 240 / 320 grit sandpaper until you have a good flat surface. Then start applying ur french polish.