When I started building my Queensland Maple Weissenborn guitar, I almost immediately started thinking about what kind of finish it was going to have. To be completely honest, I really had decided early on that it would be a Shellac or “Polish French” finish.
The maple was extremely tough and very light with a beautiful flamed finish and no way was I going to contemplate drowning it in a thick, sticky man-made goop that would kill every twang and overtone these rich, vibrant guitars produce. I had used shellac before on several vintage guitars and one of my favorite guitars in particular, a 1967 Levin Goliath, had been coated with white shellac, another variant of polish. The sound of this recently converted forty-five year old lap steel guitar has to be heard to be believed.
TRADITIONAL FINISH
Shellac and alcohol-based finishes have been in use since the early 18th century and have stood the test of time. It has the advantage of being simple to prepare, non-toxic, and apart from methylated spirits, most of which evaporates into the atmosphere, chemical-free. It is a natural product derived from the secrets of a South American beetle and is collected by hand from the trees where the beetle lives and ends up as dry flakes and is dissolved in methylated spirits or alcohol (two pounds per gallon) and stirred well until the consistency thickens.
It is applied in a number of ways, by hand with a cotton ball wrapped in a soft, lint-free cloth known as “rubber”, brushed fine, or even sprayed onto the wood.
It does, however, have an Achilles’ heel and application techniques must be mastered before an acceptable finish is achieved. In this rush around the world where many arts and skills must be mastered, many people do not have the patience to persevere in learning and move on to the easier methods of applying guitar finishes.
Once some initial success has been achieved, the frustrations of polishing shellac by hand on a quality guitar, and the great sounds it helps produce, will be quickly forgotten.
WHY USE SHELLAC?
There are many reasons why shellac is a favorite of many luthiers. The application technique, once mastered, can be astounding and in the hands of an expert can look exactly as if it had been sprayed with the highest quality lacquer.
However, the main reason I personally prefer it is because shellac, once applied, dries almost instantly and when multiple coats have been applied it is extra lightweight with a beautiful sheen that allows all the natural timbre and nuance to come through. of the sound woods to vibrate freely and allow the rich fullness of sound to be released. It is no accident that many of the amazing qualities of the beautiful and unique Stradivarius violins have been made from shellac, although the exact formula is still unknown.
Shellac also has other endearing qualities. Many shades of wood stains can be mixed with Shellac to produce a wide variety of wood colors, but still retain transparency to allow the grain pattern to show through.
The incredible color of natural orange shellac is full of brilliance and appears to glow and slowly burn, setting wood ablaze with an attractive glow.
SHELLLACA APPLICATION
There are generally two preferred methods of applying shellac, one known as quilting and brushing.
Using a soft Chinese brush made of natural hair, the shellac should be brushed out with long, quick strokes. Shellac will dry almost instantly, leading many people to think that a decent finish is impossible. However, perseverance is required and the secret is never to brush the previous pass again until it has completely dried. If you brush again when the first coat is still wet, the half-dry shellac will simply tear and smear as the ‘sticky’ brush picks up the previous coat. At first, a lot of patience is required! Also, as the mix is usually very thin, it is not unusual to have to apply twenty or more coats until the coat builds up even enough to achieve a reasonable coat.
The second method, apparently preferred by many, is the padding method. However, it is the more difficult of the two methods and will not be learned in an hour or two. Consistent and regular practice will allow confidence to grow and the results may surprise you!
There are some preferred and seemingly unorthodox methods of building a ‘pad’. The idea is to wrap a soft inner liner (or shell) of soft material (such as a clean cotton sock) with a ten-inch square (give or take!) of lint-free cotton muslin. The muslin is formed into a ball with the free material twisted into a “handle” and the ball is dipped into the shellac and alcohol mixture and applied in a long, even stroke to the wood.
It is good at this stage to point out a few tips: Do not allow the inner pad to become ‘flooded with excess shellac… the shellac can dry so quickly that the ‘pad’ can drag or stick to the surface of the wood. .a middle ground must be struck… to help do this, a small container of clean, light mineral oil can go a long way in lubricating the pad as it travels. Dip in the oil, then in the shellac, and repeat the stroke. It has been compared to an airplane taking off and landing!
ENDING!
Once again, there are a few different methods in use. One is to apply one coat, let dry and use 400 grit (very fine) sandpaper to sand the dry coat, remove the fine white chalky powder residue and recoat…then the whole process is repeated . Others will apply a few coats and then sand the job.
Once the desired number of coats is applied (no real figure here, but at least 5-10 coats) the entire piece is allowed to dry for at least 24 hours. Direct application of many coats will result in a mirror-like high gloss finish, but many people prefer to rub the work with 0000 finish steel wool to remove “spikes” and then buff with a non-silicone wax polish until smooth. a high gloss. .
If a satin type finish is required, simply rub with grade 0000 steel wool and buff very lightly!
If you liked this article and would like to read more, there is more detailed information in another article called Advanced French Polishing Techniques by the same author.
Terry Buddell, the author is an enthusiastic and competent writer of many similar articles which can be found on his website http://www.buildaweissenborn.com where many other articles and the book and CD of plans are available for building a Weissenborn from high quality. Acoustic lap steel guitars can be found.