Finishing Workshop @ CW – Spirit Varnish Pad Polishing (a/k/a “French” polishing)

One of the exercises that raised the most eyebrows was the practice of pad polishing a shellac varnish over the beeswax grain filler.  The molten beeswax was flowed onto the mahogany surface and allowed to cool, then scraped off with plexiglass scrapers that were polished to a crisp square edge.  Historically this task would have been accomplished with metal blades embedded in wooden handles, but the plexi works perfectly and is easier to obtain.

The first step in pad polishing was to make a pad, using cotton wadding as the core, wrapped with flexible bandaging, all combined into a golfball-sized sphere.  This core remains the heart of the pad for many years, only the outer linen or muslin sheath is replaced as needed.

With the pads finished and the cores charged with <1 lb. shellac varnish, the padding began in earnest s the building up stage was underway.  I think some of the participants touched the face of the pad with a small bit of mineral oil on their finger tip to lubricate the process and make it easier to rub.

Before too long the shine of a padded surface began appearing all over the place.

As I recall everyone took a break once the varnish deposit was pretty substantial, yielding a shiny surface that was too soft to work further.  After a couple hours’ wait allowing the solvent to flash off and the varnish to firm up, they were back at it.

By the end of the day there was all kinds of shiny filling the shop.  For the Hay Shop crew this was a familiar process, but I believe for the crews from the gunsmith, wheelwright, and joiners shops this might have been new territory.