muladzh
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A New Polish..
We are lining our home with wood panels, that will be polished - the idea being to keep closer to nature than the chemical paints, and polishes that are commercially available. It is going to take a while to complete the project but that gives us time to create the polish to bring the natural beauty of the wood out to be seen. Many years ago, I learned from a very old carpenter that worked on our home, how to use a french polish that he made himself. This is the polish that I wish to recreate.
Should anyone have any recipes, or information on such polish would be helping me tremendously if they would post it here. I will be researching the subject diligently over the next while, so will not be starting for a couple of weeks.. Any ideas, help or information would be greatly appreciated.
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7/24/2009, 5:05 am
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Firlefanz
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Re: A New Polish..
I would expect linseed oil to be a main ingredient - we've used it to polish wood. It's very natural and gives a waterproof sheen.
One has to be careful though, because linseed oil can self-ignite if left in a warm place where the fumes can collect. We've always put the cloth we used for it on the balcony where the wind blows the fumes away.
Sadly, I don't know any other ingredients.
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7/24/2009, 6:30 am
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muladzh
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Re: A New Polish..
Thank you, that is a start. From there, I will research more ideas.
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7/24/2009, 7:16 am
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TexasMadness
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Re: A New Polish..
Tung oil is also a great finish. We stripped down some old mahogany doors that were covered in cracked black lacquer and finished them just by rubbing tung oil on them. It's been 10 years and the doors (exterior doors) look just great. I ought to find a picture of one...
Bees wax is also used in wood polishes. I don't know any recipes though.
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7/24/2009, 8:57 pm
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muladzh
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Re: A New Polish..
Tung oil - I have never heard of it, so will research it.. Thank you for the heads up - and... a picture would be great.
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7/24/2009, 9:49 pm
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de Corbin
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Re: A New Polish..
French polish is usually a thin shellac mixture. Shellac is made from the excretion of lac beetles, and is soluable in alcohol. Good shellac is always mixed up from powder, as opposed to being bought premixed at the hardware store.
To use it for French Polish, a pad is dipped in liquid shellac and rubbed in a circular motion by hand, over and over again. The friction of rubbing evaporates the alcohol, leaving a thin covering of shellac. You should be able to find instructions on the internet. In fact, here's a tutorial I found:
http://www.milburnguitars.com/fpbannerframes.html
But it's a lot of work... Personally, I'd go with boiled linseed oil (three coats), topped with paste wax. French polish scratches easily, and is a bear to repair. Linseed oil is easy to repair - just rub on another coat and rewax. (paste furniture wax is usually a combination of linseed oil, bees wax, and carnuba wax). I use linseed oil on most of my wood projects and my gunstocks - as well as shovel handles and suchlike stuff.
Tung oil is also a great finish - linseed oil will darken the wood a bit, tung oil doesn't. Tung oil is quite a bit more expensive though.
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8/7/2009, 4:43 am
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muladzh
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Re: A New Polish..
I have noticed the cost of Tung oil. I can't afford it at present so we are just finishing the project as we can, with thoughts of polishing it later, when more funds arrive.
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8/7/2009, 4:18 pm
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