Reply To: First attempt at french polishing

Hej,

As usual I might be woefully wrong, but the photos seem to show grain-raising. Some authors claim that this only occurs with water based finishes, while others state that any liquid (including oils) will raise the grain if applied to a bare surface.

One suggested solution is to wet the surfaces, allow them to dry, and then sand with a 320 grit (P400 – P600). My own approach has been to use 0000 steel wool after having applied the first layer, which has worked well enough with water based finishes.

There are a number of methods for smoothing surfaces after being done with the finish, but I wonder if they are applicable to the situation of raised grain. Sadly. it might be that you need to use sand paper, pumice or steel wool to take the raising down, in which case the beautiful polishing probably will be lost.

Hopefully, there will be other comments recommending less draconian measures.