After just the first application after the wash coats and the pore filling, the shine of French Polish begins to show. Bottom is the East Indian Rosewood, Above that is the Honduran Rosewood, and on top the very dark Brazilian Rosewood. I love the look of East Indian, and it takes an incredible shiny finish but I am really liking the figure and character of the rich brown Honduran, and of course many folks love a "skunk stripe" as in the Brazilian. It would not have been my choice, but I did not have enough wood to cut around it.
Here is a closer look at all three. Wood is indeed beautiful!
,Here are the ingredients of French Polish- A bag of shellac flakes, and denatured alcohol to dissolve the shellac.
And here is what I mix it in. 2 oz of shellac flake, and 8 oz, of denatured alcohol, and after about 8 hours the shellac has all dissolved and it is ready to apply, I prefer the blonde natural color shellac, although you can buy it in darker colors which will of course make your instrument very dark. I think the light color allows the natural beauty of the wood to take first place.
