Shellac Question

[Steve Milito]

My first 'real' project has been shop cabs. I decided to spray finish them. So I went with with shellac because I read it's forgiving. I ran into most of the problems that a novice would when spraying, but overall it went well. My question is 'how do I repair the mistakes'. I made several mistakes but the most obvious mistakes are a few runs. I tried rubbing them out with alcohol, but it seems to thin the thin parts and leave the thick, darker run intact. Should I sand? Steel wool? Am I doing the alcohol rubbing wrong?

[Bob Barkto]

You can sand them using a hard flat block, a piece of mdf works well for this.
Use fairly fine grit, 280-320 or finer. Finer grit is less likely to damage surrounding areas. It's tedious work.

I like to use a scraper first to get the largest portion off. Cabinet scrapers, sharp paint scrapers, old (but sharp) chisels and razor blades, etc. are all in my arsenal. Used carefully you can get down to the surrounding surface and then a very light sanding and/or buffing will finish the job.

Whatever approach you use you have to concentrate on hitting only the high spots.

Hope this helps.

[Steve Schoene]

To add to what Bob said, which was well said, after scraping and sanding (steel wool doesn't work well for removing defects because it just follows the surface) You can lightly apply by padding in small areas (or spray in larger ones) an additional thin coat in the repair areas.