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  #46  
Old 02-10-2019, 12:34 PM
Rosewood99 Rosewood99 is offline
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Originally Posted by Dino Silone View Post
Some corrections and observations:

1) The scratches have to be fixed first. They need to be lightly sanded out. Steaming doesn’t help scratches, and will cloud the french polish near where you apply steam. So don’t use steam.
I'm wondering if steaming might help a bit. If you get clouding can't that be repolished?
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  #47  
Old 02-10-2019, 12:45 PM
MikeMcKee MikeMcKee is offline
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Do you know where he is located. Nothing on his website tells me.
Tom is now located in Michigan
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  #48  
Old 02-10-2019, 02:26 PM
RustyAxe RustyAxe is offline
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Find a luthier who works on violins, violas, etc. They usually know the ins and outs of repairing french polish.
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  #49  
Old 02-10-2019, 02:35 PM
Rosewood99 Rosewood99 is offline
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Find a luthier who works on violins, violas, etc. They usually know the ins and outs of repairing french polish.
That's the plan though one post said most are of varnish not FP. Regretting getting FP--everyone said it's easy to repair but nobody told me how hard it is to find anyone who does it.
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  #50  
Old 02-10-2019, 02:39 PM
AndrewG AndrewG is offline
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Originally Posted by paulzoom View Post
What I can't figure out is how they go there. The guitar had been handled with care when I used it yesterday. Picked it up today and there they were. I don't use a pick with that guitar.
Do you have a dog? You should have seen what mine did to the top of a J-40!
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  #51  
Old 02-10-2019, 02:39 PM
Rosewood99 Rosewood99 is offline
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Do you have a dog? You should have seen what mine did to the top of a J-40!
Yes I do but the guitar hangs on the wall.
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  #52  
Old 02-10-2019, 02:42 PM
AndrewG AndrewG is offline
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Originally Posted by paulzoom View Post
That's the plan though one post said most are of varnish not FP. Regretting getting FP--everyone said it's easy to repair but nobody told me how hard it is to find anyone who does it.
French polishing itself isn't the issue here, it's the depth of the scratches. Light surface marks can be readily polished out, but those look to be a lot deeper than a few microns of polish.
Anyway the mystery of whodunnit intrigues me! I hope you get it sorted.
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  #53  
Old 02-10-2019, 02:50 PM
Rosewood99 Rosewood99 is offline
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Originally Posted by AndrewG View Post
French polishing itself isn't the issue here, it's the depth of the scratches. Light surface marks can be readily polished out, but those look to be a lot deeper than a few microns of polish.
Anyway the mystery of whodunnit intrigues me! I hope you get it sorted.
It kind of is the issue because any repair work (steaming or sanding, etc) will have to be followed by repolishing the area.

It is a mystery, since it happened in a 24 hour period with everybody else away for the weekend. And unless I blacked out, that kind of damage you would you would know when it happened.
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  #54  
Old 02-10-2019, 02:53 PM
AndrewG AndrewG is offline
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Originally Posted by paulzoom View Post
It kind of is the issue because any repair work (steaming or sanding, etc) will have to be followed by repolishing the area.
Yes of course, although that is true of any finish. What I was trying to say is that French polishing by itself won't take care of the scratches.
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  #55  
Old 02-10-2019, 04:16 PM
M Hayden M Hayden is offline
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Maybe Gruhm Or Carter Vintage repair staff could look at it. I’ve seen some pretty dramatic repairs on FP. Richard Brune in Illinois did an amazing job on Agostin Barrios’ Santos Hernandez guitar some years ago and it’s absolutely undetectable.
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  #56  
Old 02-10-2019, 07:36 PM
nikpearson nikpearson is offline
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Default Find a French polisher...

As previously said, it doesn’t have to be a guitar maker/repairer - in fact other than with classical instruments, shellac is an uncommon finish for guitars

To the best of my knowledge violin makers never use French polishing as a technique, or shellac as a finish. Instruments from this family are usually finished with spirit varnish over all manner of treatments to colour the wood.

A furniture restorer, skilled in French polish repairs is almost certainly your best bet.
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  #57  
Old 02-10-2019, 08:50 PM
Rosewood99 Rosewood99 is offline
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Originally Posted by nikpearson View Post
As previously said, it doesn’t have to be a guitar maker/repairer - in fact other than with classical instruments, shellac is an uncommon finish for guitars

To the best of my knowledge violin makers never use French polishing as a technique, or shellac as a finish. Instruments from this family are usually finished with spirit varnish over all manner of treatments to colour the wood.

A furniture restorer, skilled in French polish repairs is almost certainly your best bet.
I would rather find a guitar make who know FP if i can. Just not sure if a furniture restorer would know how to handle a delicate instrument.
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  #58  
Old 02-10-2019, 10:27 PM
Dino Silone Dino Silone is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by paulzoom View Post
I'm wondering if steaming might help a bit. If you get clouding can't that be repolished?
Steam is good for dents - it causes the fibers to take up moisture and swell, popping the dent out. But a scratch is where the wood has been torn and potentially removed, so steam isn’t going to help that.

But yes, if you cloud a shellac finish, you can polish it out with some more shellac. I was just trying to limit the area that needed to be touched. I don’t think someone who’s never done a french polish before is going to get it looking like an expert would, so replenishing the shellac on just a little area is probably going to look better.
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  #59  
Old 02-11-2019, 07:17 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by paulzoom View Post
What I can't figure out is how they go there. The guitar had been handled with care when I used it yesterday. Picked it up today and there they were. I don't use a pick with that guitar.
Hi pz

I have a friend who builds world class instruments, and he ALWAYS tries to discourage buyers from choosing French Polish. He jokingly claims that you have to work on it while wearing dark goggles, and without breathing on it because you may dent or scratch it.

Clients are usually convinced that french polish creates a noticeable difference in the projection of the instrument, and he feels it's just a pain to maintain. And then the artists who own them usually don't take them outside the home. They are often sold within a couple years.

I'm not sure about refinishing, perhaps a visit to the Custom Shop section of the forum (where builders often post) would answer your question.



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  #60  
Old 02-11-2019, 09:51 AM
mercy mercy is offline
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I dont know where you are but this guy is a FP expert that builds and repairs guitars.
John McKenna
895 Church St.
Christiansburg VA 24073

540-577-1777
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