Shellac ??'s

[Jim Kappel]

So I put two coats of shellac on my armoire front door panels. The wood is walnut, pretty figured and quite grainy. I'm hoping for an end result that will have a nice smooth feel. Right now they are basically soaking it in with some of the panel being smoother than other spots. Do I just keep adding coats to get the overall panel smooth?

Actually, the panels are going into frames yet and the plan is to have 1-2 coats of shellac sprayed on the entire project. Do I just wait until that point in the process?

Jim

[glenn bradley]

With material that absorbs irregularly, I use a fairly thin coat first then go to somewhere between a 1.5 and 2 pound cut. No real science, just trial and error in my geographical area and this works best for me.

When some parts of the wood seal and others do not I will sand gently with 400 grit and recoat the entire surface till I get a consistent feel. Then I finish everything however the final coats are to be applied.

[Jim Kappel]

Also, what kind of sheen (or shine) does multiple coats of shellac (garnet) produce?

Jim

[Scott Holmes]

Shellac is a gloss finish, unless you add a flattening agent to the shellac.

Soaking in shellac? Figuratively, I hope.

The perfect shellac finish is the the thinnest possible finish that is flawless. Building shellac too thick is a mistake. Sand and spots that are not smooth then recaot.

[Jim Kappel]

by soaking in I mean the wood seems so porous in areas that it looks very flat (sheen) compared to the rest of the wood.

What kind of sand paper do you use to even things up? I bought some 600 grit and it seems to clog up...

[Scott Holmes]

If you are seeing "dull" spots then the shellac is still filling the grain. Apply more.

600 is too fine. I usually use bewteen 150 and 220 depending on the project and the degree of roughness. If you are going to apply varnish over it then 180 is fine enough.

[Jim Kappel]

So if the overall appearance is pretty shiny, am I applying too much shellac? Or is that a "look" of shellac people sometimes go for?

[Scott Holmes]

Pretty shiny means you have a reasonable build of shellac. If there are still dull spots the the wood is not completely sealed. Shellac is GLOSS.

[Neal Clayton]

So if the overall appearance is pretty shiny, am I applying too much shellac? Or is that a "look" of shellac people sometimes go for?

due to how thin it is 7-10 coats are typical.

if you want to flatten the final sheen, you can just wax it, or apply a coat with a flattener, or use a satin/matte varnish or whatever else you prefer really..

shellac sticks to anything, so you can put whatever you want on/under/between it as long as you're using de-waxed.

i personally buff the shellac with steel wool and use waterlox satin on top. waterlox has the added benefit of being a pretty close match color-wise to garnet shellac out of the can, so it's a good match for a top coat, in that it will repair minor dents and dings with additional coats later on as well.

[Prashun Patel]

I usually sand back (not too aggressively) the 1st couple coats of shellac with 220. I've found that most of the rough spots disappear for me after that.

I theorize that the rough spots I experience on initial coats are actually raised grain (since I thin my shellac way back), and most alcohols that we use in the home contain or absorb up to 10% water fm the atmosphere. Sanding back elims those.