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I think I've gotten pretty good at French polish with blonde shellac flakes, I'm on my 12th now. However when I try to use an amber flake or dyed shellac I can't seem to get an even coat, the color is darker in some places and at times it will just completely pick up and become almost bare wood again. I haven't had this problem with the back and side woods, in this case Sapele but I have with the top woods Adirondack once and now Western Red Cedar.

I'm using Everclear and shellac flakes and dye from StewMac.

Any ideas what is causing this? How could I go about fixing this or do I just need to sand the top and start over.

Thanks!

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http://www.wideskyguitars.com
https://www.instagram.com/wide_sky_guitars/

In case I wasn't clear before...
I used StewMac's Color Tone Liquid Stain with shellac flakes and Everclear. Got a great old Gibson like burgundy color. Tested on scraps of Sapele and Western Red Cedar and it looked great. Tried it on the body of the guitar, Sapele looks great but the WRC has spots where the color started to come up while I was laying it down and the more I tried to gently apply the colored shellac the bigger the bare spot became. This is the same problem I had with using amber shellac flakes, the back and sides looked great but on the top the color would start to come of and was impossible to get it back down.

_________________
http://www.wideskyguitars.com
https://www.instagram.com/wide_sky_guitars/

Yep, that happens with French polish. If you make extra passes over a thin spot, the pad starts removing shellac instead of laying it down. The only cure is patience. Couple seconds of rubbing followed by a 5-10 minute wait for it to dry. You can heat it to speed the drying process (but make sure it's cooled back to room temperature before working it again).

You can also scrape/sand an area around the thin spot before trying to fix it, to help blend it in. Otherwise by the time the thin spot is built up, it might have an overly thick ring around it.

But a lot of the time it's faster just to scrape it all off and try again not to mess up in the first place.

Ignore the thin spots. as you get more build the color will even out.

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Brian

You never know what you are capable of until you actually try.

https://www.howardguitarsdelaware.com/

My experience with French Polish has been the same as Brian's. Definitely an exercise in patience and not going back. A good TV show helps and being methodical on the passes.

Andy

Thank you! I'll work on my patience and give it time between coats. I'll report back. Thanks!!

_________________
http://www.wideskyguitars.com
https://www.instagram.com/wide_sky_guitars/

Perhaps patience is one of the most important parts of french polish. Great advice, thank you. Color is evening out and I suspect that giving even more time than I had been between coats will help the over all look of my finishes.

_________________
http://www.wideskyguitars.com
https://www.instagram.com/wide_sky_guitars/