agreed, I do love some of those finishes I've seen that have a bit of well done wood burn on them!
~Phil
French polish
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pompeiisneaks
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Re: French polish
tUber Nerd!
Re: French polish
Here's a bad cell phone pic of my daughter's bass cabs;
They're 1/2" ply, I wanted to keep them light for her. They are both torched, but I went a little heavier on the 2x12 and liked the results better. On a dark stage you wouldn't know they were anything different than tolexed cabs. It came in really handy when I didn't have any black spray paint on hand and was doing a baffle the other day.
The japanese call it "shou sugi ban" and use it as a natural finish that preserves the wood. I'm looking forward to trying it on a pine cabinet to get a really deep alligator skin char on it. It does look like tolex if done right without "throwing a blanket" over the sound. I think there may be something else going on by drying out the wood really good and increasing the carbon ratio, but that's just speculation. I shellac over it to keep the black finish, and prevent it from rubbing off on everything and protect it a bit. I'm sure there are better and tougher finishes, but for a canary like myself, I need to go with lowest toxicity.
Not something you would use on a nice wood for obvious reasons, but for a light ply or pine cab, it works well. Here's a link to some examples using white pine and some of the different techniques to get different finishes;
http://easternwhitepine.org/shou-sugi-b ... with-fire/
I kind of stumbled on to the technique because I became hypersenitive to mold exposures, small amounts will kick my ass and knock me down for days. One thing I found that would get rid of most traces of mold or mycotoxins on wood is torching it like this. The absolute worst for that is a cab with that "rat-hair" crap they used to put on stuff, that stuff is like a sponge soaking up every fungus, smoke particle, cat-piss, and spilt beer in a 5 mile radius, nasty. Oh and one more tip if you want to try it, don't torch the cab with the speakers still in it!
They're 1/2" ply, I wanted to keep them light for her. They are both torched, but I went a little heavier on the 2x12 and liked the results better. On a dark stage you wouldn't know they were anything different than tolexed cabs. It came in really handy when I didn't have any black spray paint on hand and was doing a baffle the other day.
The japanese call it "shou sugi ban" and use it as a natural finish that preserves the wood. I'm looking forward to trying it on a pine cabinet to get a really deep alligator skin char on it. It does look like tolex if done right without "throwing a blanket" over the sound. I think there may be something else going on by drying out the wood really good and increasing the carbon ratio, but that's just speculation. I shellac over it to keep the black finish, and prevent it from rubbing off on everything and protect it a bit. I'm sure there are better and tougher finishes, but for a canary like myself, I need to go with lowest toxicity.
Not something you would use on a nice wood for obvious reasons, but for a light ply or pine cab, it works well. Here's a link to some examples using white pine and some of the different techniques to get different finishes;
http://easternwhitepine.org/shou-sugi-b ... with-fire/
I kind of stumbled on to the technique because I became hypersenitive to mold exposures, small amounts will kick my ass and knock me down for days. One thing I found that would get rid of most traces of mold or mycotoxins on wood is torching it like this. The absolute worst for that is a cab with that "rat-hair" crap they used to put on stuff, that stuff is like a sponge soaking up every fungus, smoke particle, cat-piss, and spilt beer in a 5 mile radius, nasty. Oh and one more tip if you want to try it, don't torch the cab with the speakers still in it!
Re: French polish
This is long, but it works so well I had to post it (from John/basicaudio on AX84):
1. Sand bare wood to 220
2. Mix Boiled linseed oil, Minwax fast drying polyurethane and either Mineral
spirits naphtha or turpentine in equal parts for about a pint. It's not crucial to get it perfect at all. Naphtha is best for quick drying, mineral spirits is best to dry a little slower and lest you work a larger area.
Turpentine is about the same as min spirits as far as dry time.
3. Brush or wipe on the wood liberally as the bare wood will soak it up well for the first coat. Keep going over dry areas until the wood doesn't soak up any more finish. Let it sit for 5-10 minutes then wipe dry with a rag. Make sure to get all the finish off as this will dry faster. Let dry
over night with a fan on the piece.
4. Repeat step 3 and let dry.
5. Get some 320 grit wet dry (Black, silicon carbide) sand paper. Brush on a coat of finish liberally and let it sit for a minute. Now sand the whole piece well with the finish on the sandpaper. You will get a thick pasty slurry of varnish and wood dust which will fill in the pores of the wood, this creates a super smooth surface later. Wipe off the finish when you are done sanding everything. Make sure to get every area sanded and wiped off.It may look bad initially but it will get better...
6. Get some 400 grit sand paper and repeat step 5.
7. Get some 600 grit and repeat step 5
8. keep going with 600 grit until you are tired of repeating it.
8. At this point you will have a super smooth surface built up.
You can go in a few directions now.
1. For a natural matte polished wood look buff with #0000 steel wool and then a clean soft cotton rag.
2. For a lustre type look buff with the steel wool and paste wax. Let the wax dry to a haze before wiping the wax off with a clean rag. Just like waxing a car.
Repeat this step a couple times at least, Then switch to a rag and very little wax. Let the wax dry completely and then buff off.
Repeat with just the wax and a rag. This is the method I use.
3. If you want a glossy mirror finish buff with steel wool and then spray
with a can of minwax gloss poly. Be careful with dust and spray light coats. This look looks like plastic
coated wood to me, so I don't use this finish...
That's about it.
John
(Ken) I used this method (using naptha and with the lustre finish) on this piece of bubinga, and it looks super deep (much better in person than in pic):
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid ... Wz-Xc-Twf1
1. Sand bare wood to 220
2. Mix Boiled linseed oil, Minwax fast drying polyurethane and either Mineral
spirits naphtha or turpentine in equal parts for about a pint. It's not crucial to get it perfect at all. Naphtha is best for quick drying, mineral spirits is best to dry a little slower and lest you work a larger area.
Turpentine is about the same as min spirits as far as dry time.
3. Brush or wipe on the wood liberally as the bare wood will soak it up well for the first coat. Keep going over dry areas until the wood doesn't soak up any more finish. Let it sit for 5-10 minutes then wipe dry with a rag. Make sure to get all the finish off as this will dry faster. Let dry
over night with a fan on the piece.
4. Repeat step 3 and let dry.
5. Get some 320 grit wet dry (Black, silicon carbide) sand paper. Brush on a coat of finish liberally and let it sit for a minute. Now sand the whole piece well with the finish on the sandpaper. You will get a thick pasty slurry of varnish and wood dust which will fill in the pores of the wood, this creates a super smooth surface later. Wipe off the finish when you are done sanding everything. Make sure to get every area sanded and wiped off.It may look bad initially but it will get better...
6. Get some 400 grit sand paper and repeat step 5.
7. Get some 600 grit and repeat step 5
8. keep going with 600 grit until you are tired of repeating it.
8. At this point you will have a super smooth surface built up.
You can go in a few directions now.
1. For a natural matte polished wood look buff with #0000 steel wool and then a clean soft cotton rag.
2. For a lustre type look buff with the steel wool and paste wax. Let the wax dry to a haze before wiping the wax off with a clean rag. Just like waxing a car.
Repeat this step a couple times at least, Then switch to a rag and very little wax. Let the wax dry completely and then buff off.
Repeat with just the wax and a rag. This is the method I use.
3. If you want a glossy mirror finish buff with steel wool and then spray
with a can of minwax gloss poly. Be careful with dust and spray light coats. This look looks like plastic
coated wood to me, so I don't use this finish...
That's about it.
John
(Ken) I used this method (using naptha and with the lustre finish) on this piece of bubinga, and it looks super deep (much better in person than in pic):
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid ... Wz-Xc-Twf1
Re: French polish
Thanks, Ken! Your FB link does not work for me--maybe you have not set permissions for "everyone".
I build and repair tube amps. http://amps.monkeymatic.com
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Reeltarded
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- Location: GA USA
Re: French polish
I use walnut oil a cotton filled pad with a string tying it off and 1# cut shellac only.
If it's furniture I start by spraying on the wash coat. With instruments I wash -with the grain- off both ends of every surface for the first session where the goal is to completely seal the pores. This coat gets a very fine pumice added to fill grain if not a tight grained wood. I mix my flake with much blonde lac and I let the wood do the talking. My shellac is more yellow than the browner commercial stuff. Mandolins usually get varnish over sunburst before the polishing begins. I final polish after cutting back with pumice and rottenstone.
You could just as well splash it on a cabinet and brush it around. If they had spray guns in the 15th century they would have used them to build the base.
If it's furniture I start by spraying on the wash coat. With instruments I wash -with the grain- off both ends of every surface for the first session where the goal is to completely seal the pores. This coat gets a very fine pumice added to fill grain if not a tight grained wood. I mix my flake with much blonde lac and I let the wood do the talking. My shellac is more yellow than the browner commercial stuff. Mandolins usually get varnish over sunburst before the polishing begins. I final polish after cutting back with pumice and rottenstone.
You could just as well splash it on a cabinet and brush it around. If they had spray guns in the 15th century they would have used them to build the base.
Signatures have a 255 character limit that I could abuse, but I am not Cecil B. DeMille.
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Reeltarded
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Re: French polish
Tampon
Signatures have a 255 character limit that I could abuse, but I am not Cecil B. DeMille.
Re: French polish
Does this work to see the image?
https://imgur.com/gallery/1SrQ3nR
or this?
https://i.imgur.com/8fQ6Swu.jpg
I used to use Photobucket, but I can't get that to work anymore. Aargh!
https://imgur.com/gallery/1SrQ3nR
or this?
https://i.imgur.com/8fQ6Swu.jpg
I used to use Photobucket, but I can't get that to work anymore. Aargh!
Re: French polish
Be really careful with step 2 above (waxing). If your pores and divots aren't completely filled, the wax will get in them and be hard to get out, even a piece that looks smooth will get little hazy micro streaks in the grain unless you've really built things up and leveled them out.
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statorvane
- Posts: 557
- Joined: Thu May 11, 2006 3:28 pm
- Location: Upstate New York
Re: French polish
I just stumbled upon this post. Ken, that is a fabulous looking piece of wood. Finished very nice. Really a good looking amplifier!