Review of Peter Seftons 2 Day French Polishing Course

[sancho57]

I decided to sign up for this course based on Peter Parfitts post about Peter Seftons Furniture School ,Store etc.

http://www.peterseftonfurnitureschool.com

I took the first of the 2 day course yesterday. The course is 2 days over 2 consecutive Saturday's .

I happily discovered that this course isn't solely a french polishing course. It is more of a furniture refinishing / repair/ restoration course.

Peter himself didn't teach it. He had a friend who is currently a furniture finisher for a large company with over 30 years experiance in the industry.

After the usual health and safety brief we got into a discussion of the best materials to use and where to buy them.  He basically told us that the commercial ones that can be bought at the home improvement stores are not very good. Next to useless really.

However he gave us details of industrial strippers and where they can be bought by the public. Which were what we used. They supplied the PPE which if you don't like getting a burning feeling you don't need. My wife who took the course with me and a couple of the ladies used them.

Straight away we got to the work shop and after a demo of proper stripping technique we all got to work on the pieces we brought to refinish.
During the course of the day we would stop when someone had a teachable moment on their project.

In my case my piece was a Georgian side table with a lot of knooks and crannys , moulding ect that made it difficult to get the stripper into and cleansed out of.

Another one was what to use to remove stains and black rings etc off the pieces, how to mix and apply the solution,
what stainable fillers to use to make repairs after stripping etc.

Though I didn't take any photos of the first class I'll take some the next class.

The next class will be the repair, staining and finishing of the pieces. It should be interesting as mine had some very large chips  that need filling.

I mentioned to the instructor that I would use a burn in filler. He told me he has another method so He caught my attention.

Summary or is it worth the time and money ?..

Well the class was filled up with people who had little or no wood working experiance,  so far I found that I have learned  quite a bit about the refinishing process, little tricks etc and finding the specialty suppliers  alone is a plus.

Yes I would say so far it was worth the expense.

I'm looking fwd to next week when we get to the good stuff.

I'll follow up with some photos to.

I forgot to mention how he recommended we do repairs. Now this old piece had a gouge in the leg approx  12 mm wide and 35 long with a long crack extending down the leg for another 50-60mm and a long crack in one of the side panels.
So what he used to repair it was a 2 part wood filler sanded smooth, it still showed white after the stain and shellac etc. so before the final coat of shellac he took some earth pigments black, orange and yellow mix a very small bit  almost dry and used a artist brush to color the filler. Then we over it with a a final coat of shellac.

Personally I would use another method. In the states  A supplier I went to taught a one day furniture repair class.They had a filler that was colored and could be mixed with other fillers to give a exact color match, drying very fast and very hard. So hard that the instructor said it could be used to repair screw holes for hinges that hold up entry doors. And when re drilled would be stronger then the original material.
I don't know if that product is available in the UK. Anyway that's my take on the class.
I do have a couple of photos, one after the piece was stripped and before stained and finished. I got to take the finish photos and I'll post them later on today.

 

[Billedis]

Looking forward to your post next week.  Bill

 

[sancho57]

Thanks Bill

I'm curious how we're going to repair that leg, it's going to be interesting.

 

[sancho57]

I completed the 2nd day of the class , now where to begin...

The first few hours of the class was discussing and demonstrating different types of stains, and demonstrating how to use them, plus and minus's of the stains and what the best finish for them. Water based, spirit based, and chemical nbased stains were discussed. The same with top coats/ finishes, water based, and shellac, the differences in shellacs how to apply it whatt type of brush to use, techniques etc. along with finish sanding techniques and the best type of paper to use. What type of matting to use for french polishing what material is best for removing and blending excess stain, taking a wet rag to run over the w/b stain to even the color...

That lasted about 2-3 hours, a lot of info was being given.
Next off to our projects were taught how to very/ tint the stains to get a certain color, for example first coat was a red water base stain, applied then blended to get a even color, next a mahogany stain to go over it, the red stain gave it a smooth mahogany color.

Next grain filler was discussed and demonstrated which was awesome as I have never used it before. In the discussion we discussed types of filler, clear vs coloured how to apply and remove.
then then put out fist coat of shellac, , lightly sanded then 2-3 more coats of shellac.
And on to the actual french polishing techniques, taking the matting and how to fold it, then wrap it in a lint free rag and how to apply. Then we finished with a wax coar and how to apply and buff to shine.

Now the question, was the class worth the cost about £200.

I would say yes. I did learn a lot about materials and techniques as well as sources to get the industrial grade products.
The instructor gave us his personal cell number so if we have questions he is available to help us. Which having a profiles her with over 30 years experiance available to consult.. Is well worth the money.

I might take this class again as there was so much info given and so little time to absorb it all. But we did get a nice cheat sheet to help us as well.

  I do plan on taking another class from Mr.Sefton at his school. As ine of the guys who went straight to using power tools , I haven't much experiance with bench tools, hand planes etc. the school offers some 5 day classes on various subjects.

So I plan on giving Sarah ( Mr. Seftons wife who handles the office) a call to see which class would be best to meet my needs.

Mr. Sefton Has a well equipped tool shop where we can purchase tools and supplies that we use in the class ( all tools and materials are provided in the classes, but if you want to purchase some for home use)

I encourage anyone who wants to learn the basics of refinishing furniture from novice to experienced refinishers to take this class there is always something one can learn.

 

[Nippychippy]

Thanks for the review I have been admiring Peters training for a few years now it really interests me if get some time

 

[Stone Message]

Hi Ron

It sounds like you had a really worthwhile experience.

Many thanks for taking the trouble to let us know how you got on.

Do we get pictures soon?

Peter

 

[sancho57]

Here's a photo of my side table . This is taken after I strippedd it. You can get a good look and the damage that had to be repaired.

I also have a photo of the instructor discussing stains and finishes etc. you can tell by the photo how it was info overload.

Ok I got some photos of the finish product, one is one my wife did. It turned out better then mine

 

[sancho57]

Thanks for the review I have been admiring Peters training for a few years now it really interests me if get some time

I plan on taking another one. I'll be giving them a call to see which ones meet my needs and the dates offered. If you want I can let Ya know and maybe we can take it together.

Paul Sellers is another one I wouldn't mind taking classes from  He's up in your neck of the woods. Do you have any info on his offers?

Hey you coming to my BBQ?