Rustins French Polish 125ml

I wanted to make a new arm board for my turntable, so I started with 30x8 cm in newly cut American Walnut. I have never tried French Polish before, so was a bit uneasy, but it was not very difficult, once you get it sorted out. I used Bio Ethanol to clean, mix and rub down when required, and very fine pumice to fill the grain. My method was: 1. Sand with fine sand paper. I think I used 1000 grain to get it smooth. 2. Fill grain with pumice and ethanol rub. Did this twice about 12 hour apart. 3. Mixed French Polish about 50/50 with ethanol and washed on with a ‘rubber’. Waited 12 hours and repeated. 4. Next day, sanded lightly and applied the first buildup coat. Rubbed in small circles an used a drop of olive oil as a lubricant. If you have too much oil, it looks good but dries unevenly. If you have not enough the rubber sticks and leaves smears. If this happen don’t leave it. You might rub it away, or you might need to take it off with alcohol. 5. Leave to dry for 6-8 hours. Sand with very fine paper, say 2000-3000 grade. Wipe clean and apply again. I applied about 6-7 coats over three days. 6. Sand very lightly. I then mixed ethanol with the French Polish again about 50/50. I wiped that along the grain very gently. 7. Waited to the next day the used a quality bees wax to get a final polish. As this was my first attempt and a very small piece, so it was about right as a start. I learnt a fair bit and would get a better result. If I were starting on something larger I would suggest you try a small test piece. It takes time, but you learn a bit. For me the main lessons were: 1) apply a small amount at a time. 2) keep the mixture at room temperature. It was too cold in the garage and it made it harder to work. 3) wait the full six hours between coats. 4) make the rubber surface smooth and crease free, including the inside bit, and don’t make it too tight. At the end of each session put it in a sealed jam jar. 5) In one coat, I let the finish smear and did not sand it off enough. I can still see it now in the right light, so don’t leave it - either sand it off or if not yet dry try rubbing it more with a small bit of oil and or alcohol. Alcohol will remove a lot, so you may be back a few coats, and it will probably look uneven. Sand that when dry and just built it up again. Overall I am pleased, and think any imperfections are my faults, not the Rustins. I would not mind at having a go at something else too. It was quite pleasing. The pictures show the wood I started with and my end result.

Good quality french polish does what you would expect

This is my "goto" french polish. Simple to apply and always gives surprisinly good results.

excellent

Really good product. Application was fairly easy, gave a good build up of colour and great shine. Good value as it does go a long way

Does what it says on the tin... Bottle...

I find it a bit watery it's very tin I have worked with shellac before, but it was a flake I had to mix it with alcohol, but again you get what paid for

Good polish

Good deal

It's already here but it still says, "It's coming". I wonder what is coming. Very good item I was always looking for.