Pore filling on early island ukuleles?

Paul Bouchard

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I'm going to make the early 1900s style koa soprano featured in Graham McDonald's book and I'm wondering if surviving examples are French polished or just given a coat of shellac, or something else?
 
I'm going to make the early 1900s style koa soprano featured in Graham McDonald's book and I'm wondering if surviving examples are French polished or just given a coat of shellac, or something else?
I'll be interested in this project ... are you going to build it with an internal mould and Spanish heel ?.
 
I have a 1907 Manuel Nunes. A few years ago, a museum level conservator who happens to be down the street did some minor cleanup and maintenance on it. Among other things, he spruced up the finish with fresh shellac. It was not french polished by any means but was obviously shellac. And no pore fill.
 
Thanks Saltytri. That's nice to know.

Yes Ken, I did my first uke with an internal mould too, roughly following that Henry Ford video but without a neck. I saw your version as well but a little too late in the build. Excellent vid. That one had a dovetail neck, so I'm looking forward to trying the Spanish heel this time. The rope binding looks fun too. I bought some inkjet decal paper so I can make my own custom slide transfer on the headstock. I’ll have to lay some white paint under the decal, or maybe get some white decal paper. I’ll experiment when Inget that far.

Paul
 
... he spruced up the finish with fresh shellac. It was not french polished by any means but was obviously shellac. And no pore fill.

I'm a little confused as French Polish is just shellac.
Do you mean the shellac was more roughly wiped on rather then padded on over many layers which would make it more a french polish?

To my understanding, that it (an instrument or piece of furniture) is or is not pore filled has no bearing on if it is french polished or not.
 
I'm a little confused as French Polish is just shellac.

This is a constant source of confusion. "French polishing" is a technique of applying shellac that involves discrete steps such as using oil as a lubricant and then removing the oil from the finish using volatile solvents. Just putting shellac on an instrument does not mean it was "French polished". I use shellac to finish my instruments and it in no way resembles the French polish technique other than that I use shellac. While I admire the finishes that are produced using the French polishing technique, I find the whole process repetitive, boring and unnecessary. It is possible to produce a quality, high sheen finish without all the obsessive compulsiveness that the French polishing technique involves.
 
Do you mean the shellac was more roughly wiped on rather then padded on over many layers which would make it more a french polish? [/QUOTE said:
Right. The finish that was there before it was spruced up didn't look anywhere near as refined a proper French polish job. More like wiped or brushed on. More shellac was applied as part of the work I had done and it appeared consistent with the original finish.
 
This is a constant source of confusion. "French polishing" is a technique of applying shellac that involves discrete steps such as using oil as a lubricant and then removing the oil from the finish using volatile solvents. Just putting shellac on an instrument does not mean it was "French polished". I use shellac to finish my instruments and it in no way resembles the French polish technique other than that I use shellac. While I admire the finishes that are produced using the French polishing technique, I find the whole process repetitive, boring and unnecessary. It is possible to produce a quality, high sheen finish without all the obsessive compulsiveness that the French polishing technique involves.

I'm so with you on this. It seems to me the final rub out is what really matters, not how the Shellac was put on there. I had some really nice results this summer spraying shellac (outdoors). I just don't seem to have the patience others do when it comes to finishing.
 
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