french polish to chairs

Hi, I want to do french polish to a dining suite made of blackwood. The chairs and table had been clear finished (brushed) with estapol.

All of the chairs are wobbly so I pulled one apart to start with (the first is an experiment) and used citristrip and wash then sanded according to the Polishers Handbook and purchased a bottle of U Beaut White Shellac.

Now the question, do I glue the chair back together first or polish first as it seems easier to work on a flat surface to polish but I realise clamping would be more difficult.

If anyone has done chairs before I would appreciate your help.

I would clamp first because clamping will damaged the shellac.

Sand to the finest grit you care to, then do the assembly.

Clean up, do the pumice stone, then the shellac.

It my two cents as I have been playing with the same thing recently.

Definitely sand all parts first, then assemble, then clean all glue marks and final sand. Then apply appropriate stain, if any, and then polish.

Make yourself a large turntable (a la lazy susan) it will make polishing so much easier especially the legs etc.


Peter.