Can I finish a chalices without starting with de-waxed shellac?

[Brian Kent]

My standard finish for chalices for the last 7 years has been a couple of coats of Zinnser's Sealcoat De-waxed Shellac, followed by 5 to 9 coats of wipe-on Poly, and sometimes finished with a wax. Most of the chalices are Sapele this year.

My gallon of de-waxed shellac is used up and I am finding it much scarcer than a few years ago.

Do I need to start with de-waxed shellac or can I start with thinned Poly or something else?

I will probably bite the bullet and buy a couple of quarts online, but checking other people first. It needs to hold grape-juice or wine for a couple of hours, and then get a hand-wash.

Thank you

[Prashun Patel]

Hello, Old Friend!

Shellac is not needed. However, what will you thin the poly with? You’ll need mineral spirits. Can you get that out your way?

[Brian Kent]

Hello, Old Friend!

Shellac is not needed. However, what will you thin the poly with? You’ll need mineral spirits. Can you get that out your way?


That is no problem. So far!

[Pat Scott]

Your normal routine is a coat of Shellac followed by multiple coats of WOP (Wipe On Poly). I assume you use Shellac to seal the pores, right? Using Shellac will reduce the number of top coats (WOP), so if you don't use Shellac all that means is you might need or want an extra coat or two of WOP depending on what you want the final outcome to be.

WOP is regular strength poly that has been thinned by the manufacturer. You can make your own WOP by buying regular brush-on poly and thinning it yourself 50% with mineral spirits. If you add mineral spirits to WOP you're thinning it even more which I don't think you need to do as WOP is already thin enough that it will soak in and seal the pores.

If you really want to use Shellac have you considered making your own? You can buying dewaxed shellac flakes online and dissolve them in denatured alcohol. You can make it as strong or light of mixture as you want by varying the amount of flakes to alcohol. If I remember right the Zinsser Seal Coat is a 2 lb cut. I wouldn't mix up a full gallon unless you know you'll use it up within 6 months. The flakes will dissolve overnight so I mix smaller amounts and it's always fresh. I put 2 oz of flakes in 8 oz of denatured alcohol to get 1/2 pint of 2 lb cut.

[Peter Blair]

I may be missing the point here but could you not use sanding sealer for the first coat(s)?
I use a rattle can one from Mohawk, seems to work well on all the things I make.