Restoring an antique parlour guitar part 32: French polishing with olive oil

[@michaelbaker602]

Beau Hannam Guitars. Had to spellcheck my spellcheck.

[@scottreeves6932]

Looks great! One way to filter the shellac at this stage is to add the shellac and alcohol at the neck of the muñeca, then pound it on the back of your hand. Also at this stage, if you want to burnish with strokes, you can also move from end to end, gliding on easily at neck and tail. That's a beautiful color, developing real depth!

[@terry9675]

I watched the first 30 parts last Saturday, making an amazing job on that old Guitar, really impressed Susan.....

[@Arkoudeides.]

I always polish my electric guitars fretboard with olive oil.Greetings from Greece.

[@Sysiphistication]

You mentioned about picking up the outline of your 'bench cookies' on the front finish. Reminded me of some parts we had made once upon a time, Aluminum front panels for electronic instruments. The painter wrapped them in bubble wrap when they were sent back to us, with the perfect bubble imprints on the artwork. Arrgh!

[@stanncat4344]

Actually pinned bridges on "classical guitars" were actually a pretty common thing for a while with a particular school of building. Particularly the Viennese style guitars which also had a bolted on neck with a fretboard that was not glued down to the body. Its actually guitars in this style that led to steel string guitars being pegged, the earliest guitars in America were likely made by Martin and those first guitars were made in the Viennese tradition, rather than the Spanish, which is what became popular for the modern classical guitar. Martin was part of the furniture guild, or it was the coffin maker guild, when in Europe and at that time would not be allowed to change guilds even though he wanted to make guitars. When he came to America he started building guitars in the style of a Viennese maker that he knew that was popular, which used alot of aesthetic choices in things like the head stock or tuners and bridge pins that is similar to modern steal strings in some ways. Eventually gut became either hard to have for some players in North and South America and even those performers coming over to play that some players began to use metal strings that would last longer and were easier to have and travel with than gut. Some also only a metal string for the first string. Which is what I think led to both the steel string guitar and the banjo becoming steel strung rather than gut. My teachers from Northwestern both have a Viennese style guitar with bridge pins, one has a metal saddle as well, and they use nylon strings.

[@shaunsullivan353]

have to admit never thought watching someone polish something being so transfixing . its looking stunning Susan

[@jeffreyowens1718]

thank you Susie keep up the good work

[@frankmorrow5080]

Thanks for the videos! I enjoy them.

[@gangnamstylegrandpa6352]

Very nice ,La bella makes ball end classical strings you could consider using . I am so impressed with your patience . I'm sure the neck does not have a truss rod , or is steel reinforced . Be gentle , might try Eb tuning to try it out . Best of luck , I enjoy your videos !

[@BRAZOZ]

Susie i live in Florida in America I have always played and worked on my on guitars but never considered myself a Luthier. But back a few months ago I retired and bought a old guitar from Ebay a1901 Lyon and Healy quarter Sawn Oak back and sides. It was a mess all the problems you had and more as I had to do a neck reset. It was kind of uncanny as I started about same time as you with out knowing of you . I came upon you as I was wanting to put french Polish back on the Guitar. Also weird was I used Olive oil also simply because I had it around and not Mineral oil as some vids had suggested . I just finished the Guitar and also one Very old Fabricatore Romantic with Bone Frets and Ivory Friction Tuners. Any way thanks you gave me inspiration to go on as I had my Doubts about this New Business Endeavor. I call it " Back In The Day Vintage Guitar Restoration . Thanks Again . What gave me the Hardest Time was The French Polish it keep dragging on me . Hope you dont need a Neck Reset at this Stage,Sincerely Andre

[@SusanGardener]

Great stuff. :-) I think my neck is pretty good but there's no knowing what will happen when intention it. I've had trouble with the pad dragging, as you'll see in the next video. It all looks good though.

[@esa062]

Really getting the benefits of alcohol :-) Hard work is starting to pay off. That looks nice. It doesn't matter that you see the grain. It's an acoustic guitar, it's not supposed to have a thick film on top. You can add only alcohol towards the end of a session, that shifts the balance more towards stretching and smooting the shellac already on the surface. The bracing can't take steel strings anyway, which I'm sure you know, but I say anyway. The whole top would buckle.

[@larscw74]

I do not think I could have had so much patience as you. It's looking great. Wouldn't you be able to filter the shellac to remove all impurities?

[@SusanGardener]

I thought about filtering, but it's not necessary on the blonde shellac. Loading the fad without the outer cloth filters the garnet shellac anyway

[@1244taylor]

looking great. a lot of work but it is showing.. G

[@Jansmit23]

Starts to look real nice. Good job ;) One question: Why don't you immerse the sandpaper in some water (with detergent) instead of the use of the drops of water?

[@SusanGardener]

I actually do soak it, but find it needs extra water. I'm not keen on using detergent - I don't want to have residue on the surface - maybe I should

[@Jansmit23]

+Susan Gardener ah ok. A nice effect of the detergent is that it also makes the paper cleaner after a re-soak ;) Nice job on the guitar. Really love the serie.

[@daviddouglas7950]

Hi Susan thanks for this, very interesting. Couple of questions. Can I ask what you are using as a block underneath your1500 sandpaper? Do you have a video demonstrating color touch up of areas that have been sanded down to the wood before French polishing? Hope that is clear. Finally could you demo this polishing method on the sides of a guitar? Maybe you already have. Kinda tense about doing the build up on the sides. Thank you very much Susan, Dave in the Adirondacks Dave in the Adirondacks

[@Sysiphistication]

Are you using any additives in the shellac like the African cedar oil or Copal? They are supposed to make the finish tougher. I've read that when sanding with the 1500 grit paper some use oil vs water.

[@Sysiphistication]

I wonder if Bourbon or Scotch would make interesting effects.

[@jeffreyowens1718]

Hi Susie your doing a wonderful job and your a lovely woman where do you get your shellac and alcohol from I've got a guitar I'm doing up keep your vids coming I enjoy them

[@SusanGardener]

+Jeffrey Owens The shellac is Liberon brand - it's sold by a lot of specialist DIY or wood turning suppliers, or eBay. The alcohol is recitified spirit, or Polish spirit, which I get from my local Polish shop (Polski Sklep), but it's expensive. I've discovered that camping shops and big DIY like B&Q in U.K. sell bioethanol fuel which is clear and is 95% ethanol so should be a good cheap alternative -yet to try it though

[@Sysiphistication]

Various grades of scientific filter paper can be purchased in several micron levels might be good for shellac.

[@artworkvideo]

.... you mentioned that silk & steel strings have about the same tension as classical nylon strings...however a check on D'Addario (EJ45) and Martin(M160) string specs have tension for the nylon set at about 90 lbs total. The silk & steel sets (EJ40 and (M130) spec out at around 126 lbs. Since the normal (light)strings used on an average D-28 is around 160 lbs, S & S strings are closer to full steel strings than classical. Do you know of S & S strings that put a much lighter load ?

[@SusanGardener]

Martin strings were the lightest I found at around 100lb or just over. I'll probably tune down to D anyway

[@artworkvideo]

+Susan Gardener ..do you have a part number....all I found are the p/n M130 at 126lbs

[@SusanGardener]

+Art Baldwin the ones I have are M1400 Martin Marquis silk and steel .0115 - .047- they are described as "Added protection for finely crafted guitars"

[@matthewwheeler64]

As soon as you said steel strings I swicthed off.

[@michaelbaker602]

Check out Beau Hannah Guitar video on the use of olive oil. Use extreme caution when working with this medium.

[@joesimon2018]

Walnut oil is better than Olive oil for French polishing because it's a "drying oil" Linseed oil is stronger but not as lubricating.

[@Varvitski]

UFO @ 26:47