French Polishing for Guitar Makers

French polishing for guitar makersI have been making classical guitars for many years now, and most of these guitars have been French polished. It took me several years to get to the stage where I was confident of regularly achieving a satisfactory finish, and a few more before I could claim that French polishing was no longer a black art, and that I would be happy with the results (almost) every time. This course will give you the necessary knowledge and skills to be able to apply a shellac finish using the traditional French polishing method.

The course is divided into eight sections:Materials - descriptions of materials required and possible suppliersPreparation - how to prepare the guitar for polishingBasic polishing techniques - how to apply shellac using traditional techniques (off the guitar)Grain filling - filling the grain on open-pored woodsBodying up - building up the finish on the guitar (this section is presented in two video sessions)Final polishing session - how to achieve a flat, gloss finishBurnishing - bringing the surfaces to a mirror shine. The course uses mainly videos, which are essential when teaching such a practical skill, but the course also includes some written notes to back up the video content, and to give more details where necessary.