Thread: Abbey French Polish and Spray

Thanks for offering advice.

I have an Old English Oak table probably 100 years old by now. It is dry looking but in OK condition. (Not painted). I wish to make it look polished but am not really a good finisher. I had in mind to use a wipe on finish, but if you could direct me to something better that would be appreciated.

Thanks

You can apply orange shellac to the surface using cottonwool wraped in pure cotton cloth [old is better ]make this about the size of your palm. Dip into mixed shellac and squeeze out excess then going with the grain of the timber apply a single coat until the whole surface is covered.You can apply as many coats as you like as long as the one before is dry (5 mins )until you have the finish you desire You can give a light sand between coats .Leave over night and then apply bees wax with a fine steel wool (000)with the grain this will give you a very smooth finish
Abbeyfrench polish
ps make sure cotten wool is kept inside cotton rag completly

Great news, i'll follow your advice - seems rather simple but books on this are a little confusing for the novice. For your info the table is rather plain. It has straight skinny tapering legs, each having rusty old fashion wheels. The top is flat and worth being nice.

Thanks muchly.

Jabba that is the beauty with the use of shellacing (French Polishing), it is actually quite straight forward, even if shrouded in Mystery. The key to it is that it is a simple product to work with, and provides once completed, a finish that looks and feels right for old/antique wood and to my mind being a natural finish is perfect, unlike plasticky polyeurethane.

But perhaps I am just biased, as I only restore antiques, and old timbers for enjoyment and as a part of restoring my colonial properties joinery.

To add one further piece of advice to that of Abbey's, you can also use a paint brush for the hard to reach corners etc, but need to be careful with "water marks" or brush marks forming, though these can be normally sanded back. The other thing I was taught actually was to use a figure of 8 motion when coating large flat surfaces, but yes as Abbey says do follow the grain.

Like pines, cedar, and other timbers, English Oak will come up a real treat with this finish. Enjoy the project. Dave

Very thoughtful of you to provide additional info...............cheers


Jabba

Hey jabba you are most welcome and if you know how to post a pic on this forum (for I can't seem to re-size my photos), would enjoy seeing a pic of the table, before/after.

Sometime in the future I too need to re-polish my wife's English Oak writing beauru, which also looks dry, but for the moment I have plenty of other projects to keep me occupied when not at work etc.

Originally Posted by Horsecroft88

Hey jabba you are most welcome and if you know how to post a pic on this forum (for I can't seem to re-size my photos), would enjoy seeing a pic of the table, before/after.

Sometime in the future I too need to re-polish my wife's English Oak writing beauru, which also looks dry, but for the moment I have plenty of other projects to keep me occupied when not at work etc.

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Colin.

Thanks to both Horsecrofft 88 & Chippy 71 for your response & interest.

I like a freebie so will look into a photo very soon.


P.S. It's 38-39 degrees (cel) daily here in Perth & going into the 40's soon. I will put this off until it cools down to at least body temp.

regards

Jabbagutt

Thanks Colin (Chippy), I will have to download it and try it out. Great to know.

Jabba, man that is far too hot. We recently had a day (yes just one not a week) of 38-40 degrees down here in Hobart and it was far to hot to do anything. Stayed indoors away from the sun until it cooled off a little, so I can well understand you not being too keen to get cracking on with the restoration job etc !!

I have an old art deco clock that I want to restore. I am doing fine with the mechanics but the case has crazing and cracks in the finish. My best estimate is that this clock was made in the 1930's and is finished in what looks like to be french polish.

I was wondering what the best approach would be to restore the case. I was thinking perhaps a light sanding of 1200 g or higher to smooth the surface and then apply shellac. Does that make sense?

It shows on my screen that you have not yet been provided with a reply. I left it for a while waiting for the experts to help first. I am new to woodworking, and should remain silent on your clock restoration project. But, I hope I can help by suggesting the following book. One of our members (patron Saint actually) sells them. Go to his website to check if it is still available @ U-Beaut Polishes - HOME PAGE