Can I spray shellac.....

[Dennis Peacock]

or does it dry too fast to spray and will need to be brushed? I am tinkering with the idea of using shellac on this CD cabinet (my first use of shellac) or I can stick with Lacquer or even an oil based Poly.

Advise, pointers?

[Todd Burch]

You can spray it. I've sprayed it a bunch. Below is the bathroom cabinet I have out in the shop I made with birdseye pine and finished with amber shellac - right out of the can (although cut to 1.5 lbs).

You can build it up pretty fast, but the more you build it, the longer it will take to harden out. The cabinet below probably has 4-6 coats applied over 3 to 4 hours, and I sanded lightly, just knocking off the dust nibs, between coats. I let it dry overnight.

I used a conventional gun @ 35 psi, and wasted A LOT of shellac in the process.

[Bert Johansen]

Dennis, not only can you spray it, you will find it easy and quick-drying. You can re-coat in about 15 minutes in average temp/humidity conditions. For small projects I just grab the Zinnser aerosol spray can. Good luck!

Bert

[jerry cousins]

i've not sprayed shellac - but have sprayed waterbased finishes & lacquer. i have been using shellac for finishes the last couple of years - applying it with a wadded up cotton "rubber" soaked in alcohol.

i always thought that the rubbing process of 4 or 5 coats was what brought out the finish - the building up of polished coats. how does it work when you spray it on? do you use something to rub it after the spray and after it dries (since it dries so quickly)?

thanks for the info

jerry

[Phil Phelps]

Do what Todd did but don't waste so much :D You'll be cuttin' it about half with alcohol, so it won't be so bad. After you spray it, you'll wonder why you ever brushed it :p

[Paul Kunkel]

After you spray it, you'll wonder why you ever brushed it :pAnd you won't even miss your evening cocktail!
:D :D

[David Rose]

Dennis, I don't know the spraying lingo. But you don't want to leave shellac in the spray "cup" or whatever it's called any longer than necessary. I'm pretty sure Jeff Jewitt has sprayer cleaning instructions posted on his site. It may be that I read them in one of his books. At any rate, the acids in the shellac will react to the metal parts relatively quickly. I don't mean fast enough to put you off from trying it. That's the way I would apply it if I were set up for it. Just don't let things sit.

David

[Phil Phelps]

Dennis, I don't know the spraying lingo. But you don't want to leave shellac in the spray "cup" or whatever it's called any longer than necessary. I'm pretty sure Jeff Jewitt has sprayer cleaning instructions posted on his site. It may be that I read them in one of his books. At any rate, the acids in the shellac will react to the metal parts relatively quickly. I don't mean fast enough to put you off from trying it. That's the way I would apply it if I were set up for it. Just don't let things sit.

David
Using shellac, I wash pour the thinned mix back in the can from where it came. I pour about two fingers of alcohol in the cup and spray it through the gun. With a siphon gun, I put my finger over the spray nozzle to "back flush" the gun. Pour the remainder in the shellac can and, repeat with lacquer thinner. A sprayguns best friend. And, don't forget to back flush the gun every time you clean it.

[Dennis Peacock]

Using shellac, I wash pour the thinned mix back in the can from where it came. I pour about two fingers of alcohol in the cup and spray it through the gun. With a siphon gun, I put my finger over the spray nozzle to "back flush" the gun. Pour the remainder in the shellac can and, repeat with lacquer thinner. A sprayguns best friend. And, don't forget to back flush the gun every time you clean it.

Now there you go....introducing a new term and something I should be doing.....back flushing? Is it as simple as putting my finger over the end of the nozzle and pulling the trigger? My book only mentions taking the gun apart and cleaning thoroughly. What am I missing Phil?

David Rose.....excellent pointers there. I had figured that I would have to mix it up, pour in sprayer and start spraying and not leaving any of it sit for long without cleaning the gun. Sound right to you?

Thanks to you all for the great advice and pointers.

[Byron Trantham]

Dennis, I spray shellac with an HVLP conversion gun. As has already been mentioned, it dries fast so yo can put on several coats, though I usually put on one coat of 2# cut, in the same session. I'm finishing five panels that make up a baby's crib. Lots of irregular surfaces and very difficult to finish with a brush. By the time I finished the last panel the first one was already dry!

Cleaning the gun is alway a pain but critical. In the case of shellac, I use denatured alcohol and then finish with lacquer thiner. I use WB lacquer as the top coat 2-3 coats.

[Alan Turner]

I spray shellac, and love it. You can tint it with Transtint, and make it any shade you would like. When I did a real large job (for me), which was a hutch, with 5 drawers, I let it sit in my gravity gun overnight without any problem. Just sprayed the next day, and when done, I soak the parts in alcohol. I will try the back flushing, if I can figure out how to do it. I am a pretty new sprayer.
As to the rubber, I have found that after sufficient build up, I can basically french polish the piece without any problem, quite quickly. If you french polich totally by hand, then it takes quite a while to build up enought film thickness. But if you employ the french polishing rubber (I use mineral oil, 3 drops, as the libricant) after the build up is achieved with the gun, then you end up french polishing quite quickly. I don't always do this, but it is neither difficult nor very time consuming. And the look is dead flat and glossy. I sometimes then cut this back by rubbing it out.