Lutherie instruction

I am currently only offering french polishing instruction,  as I have a fairly long wait list for my custom made guitars.

Course Description:

1)French Polishing - One on one:

Any professional quality finish which is flat, shiny and thin, as to not dampen the sound, is going to take a fair amount of work. But if you are spending more than 20 hours or so french polishing a guitar your methods are probably inneficient.

The best way to learn French polishing is neither from a book nor from a video, but in person, from someone who does it well. The problem with all the books and videos I have seen is they do not teach you how to avoid all the pitfalls of french polishing - gummy finish, streaking, pitting, ropeyness, lumpyness, etc. If you are happy with a shellac finish which just protects the guitar but does not look great then don't bother with the course; just keep doing what you do.

This one on one class is intended for people who really want to bring their French polishing to a professional level, and is well suited for guitar makers and fine furniture makers. Most of those who have taken this course in the past were guitar makers who could French polish a little bit, achieved OK results, but needed help to get their French polishing up to a high professional standard. This way your guitars can hang beside other professional quality guitars in a fine guitar shop and not look inferior, maybe even better than most of them, if you take the time to hone this skill.


In this session you will learn:
• How to prepare the surface of the woods for finishing
• How to fill the pores using the traditional pumice method, plus a few modern alternatives 
• How to use egg whites as a sealer, if desired.
• How to prepare and use different types of shellac depending on the look you’re after
• How to build up the body coats, and correct problems as they arise
• How to spirit off, and rub-out the finish
• How to French polish difficult areas of the guitar
• How to repair dings and worn areas of the finish

Cost: $400   Time: 8 hours

This class can be done in one long day, or over 2 half days.
If you’re interested in taking this class please contact me, Marcus Dominelli, and we'll work out a time to do this.