Hello
I finally found some time to photograph the other projects we did on the furniture restoration taster course. First up is the one I found really hard. We made a panel of four different veneers then chiselled out a slice, filled it with wood filler and attempted to match the colour and patterns of the wood with paint. My word it was hard! Apart from anything else the paint looks different on the pallet to on the wood and the wood looks different from different angles.
From left to right we have mahogany, oak, pear and walnut. More practice needed I think.
Next was a little piece of marquetry which was then French polished. Accurately cutting the slivers of veneer was harder than it looked but I loved it.
The polishing involved ten different grades of sand paper then buffing with stone dust and alcohol. Much elbow grease required! Last we applied varnish in very very thin layers with a ball of cloth.
The shine is amazing and I am really pleased with it.
Lastly we took a larger piece of mahogany and polished it to shine like a mirror.
Amaël, our teacher gouged a chunk out with a chisel and we had to fill and colour it. I think I did a better job this time:
Although viewed at an angle it is terrible.
I am pretty pleased with the polish though. It is so hard to photograph because part of the joy is how the colours and reflections change as you move your head.
The answer to the question about maintaining the shine on French polish was very simple. Never use any 'products' just wipe the dust off with a soft cloth.
xx
