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What is French Polish and why use it?

The answers are simple, but before we consider what French Polishing is we must consider what is NOT French Polishing. There are two main techniques that people call a French Polished finish that are not really French Polished finishes. These are 1) When the shellac is sprayed on. This is a sprayed shellac finish, it is not French Polished, and number 2) is when shellac is applied over another finish like epoxy, polyester, super glue etc. Using shellac as a final coating in this matter is not French Polishing and as a result the final product does not produce the same acoustic properties as a traditional French Polished surface. Puting shellac over an epxoy base will give the same result as if the guitar was finished in epoxy alone.

A traditional French Polish finish is used on most high quality guitars simply because there is no equal available today, acoustically and visually speaking. French Polish will last a very long time, but it can be damaged easily, especially when new. But if it is the best acoustically and the guitar is expensive then proper care is called for in the first place and the instrument deserves the finest finish to complement the sound.

French Polishing is the art of applying the shellac in very thin layers to the wood using a pad (sometimes called a muneca or tampon). This process is described fuly in the following article. The pad is usually a piece of cotton or linen cloth wrapped around cotton or woolen padding in the shape of a pear. It can vary in size depending on the situation. If tight corners are being polished, then a small pad will be easier to use.

There are many tales around about what shellac is, and they vary widely. Shellac is a substance that a small insect mostly found in Asia, the Coccus lacca, exudes after sucking the sap from tree branches. The exudate is used to construct the shelters or coccoons on the branches of the trees. Humans collect this substance from the tree branches. In its raw form this is called sticklac. From here start the various purification processes. The purification can be simply a washing to remove as much bark and insect remains as possible. In this form the shellac is now called seedlac. The next step invloves either chemical or mechanical purification. Mechanical purification is done by melting and then filtering through hessian cloths or sacks. While still soft the molten shellac is stretched into thin sheets and allowed to cool.

Shellac comes in many grades and the more purified the shellac the clearer or paler it becomes. Chemical purification or bleaching is done by dissolving the shellac in alcohol and bubbling chlorine gas through it and then evaporating off the alcohol. The shellac also becomes softer as it is purified and bleached. Dewaxing can be carried out at this stage as well, but I find it easy to dewax the shellac as required when using the shellac.

The most common is called orange shellac. After the shellac is heated and filtered it is poured into thin sheets and allowed to harden. Then it is broken up into small flakes. The picture here shows orange shellac on the right and a blonde dewaxed shellac on the left. In the centre is a jar with shellac on the bottom, and alcohol on the top. The shellac dissolves in the alcohol to produce the liquid we use to produce the French Polished finish. I generally fill the jar about 1/3 with the flakes and then fill the jar with alcohol. This yields what is called a 2lb cut. In old terms this meant that 2lbs of shellac was dissolved in 1 gallon of alcohol. I never need those quantities at any one time, so my volumes and weights vary accordingly, but still yield the same ratio of shellac to solvent. This mixture is our basic ingredient.

Alcohol usually contain varying amounts of water and the higher this contamination the less suitable it is for French Polishing. As the shellac is applied the solvent (alcohol) evaporates leaving behind a thin layer of the shellac. The water (if present) does not evaporate out rapidly with the alcohol and this results in a problem called "soft polish". Soft polish is exactly what it says it is. It marks easily and is generally unsuitable as a coating for instruments and is the most common complaint for those new to the art of French Polishing.

There are many other causes for soft polish, one of which is the use of oil during the polishing process. I will talk more about this problem later.

On the guitar shown in this article I am using the blond shellac because the guitar has a spruce top. Orange shellac can look very ordinary and patchy on beautiful spruce tops. I prefer the spruce to age to a golden colour naturally under blonde shellacs. Also if you are not very experienced at French polishing the orange shellac can look uneven and unsightly on Spruce. This photo shows the same bottle of shellac as seen above, but after the shellac has been dissolved.