Stripping Down To Bare Wood

[Keith Starosta]

I started finishing a small box made of quilted maple and walnut. At this point, I have just applied the first coat of de-waxed shellac, but I'm not happy with how dark the maple is turning out. I definitely wanted a more "blond" finish, and I'm not sure that is going to happen. I'm going to use Minwax Polycrylic as a finish.

If I decide to strip it back before moving forward, what is the best method to do this? Is it just a good sanding? Please help!

- Keith

[Jason Roehl]

Keith, use de-natured alcohol and a bunch of paper towels or rags to wipe it off. Shellac comes off pretty well this way.

[Sam Yerardi]

If it is the color of the shellac layer that you started with (and you don't like) was it blonde or white shellac? If not, then that's what I would try.

[Steve Schoene]

Before you start stripping, have you tried your top coat finish to a sample of the bare wood. Even the completely clear acyrlic finish will have the effect of darkening the maple because it "wets" the wood.

Of course the effect of the shellac does depend on which particular grade of shellac you used. Seal Coat is only moderately light, what I would call a dirty blonde. There are lighter shellacs available in flakes--Super Blonde or Ultra Pale for example. Shellac doesn't darken over time.

In addition, you should know that the maple will darken and yellow over time pretty much regardless of the finish.

The other thing is that you can't "have your cake and eat it too" since it is the amber in the finish that does most of the grain popping. The lighter you go with the first coat the less the quilting will show up.

[Keith Starosta]

If it is the color of the shellac layer that you started with (and you don't like) was it blonde or white shellac? If not, then that's what I would try.

Sam, I used Zinsser Bulls Eye dewaxed shellac. Not sure if it is blonde or white...

- Keith

[Keith Starosta]

Before you start stripping, have you tried your top coat finish to a sample of the bare wood. Even the completely clear acyrlic finish will have the effect of darkening the maple because it "wets" the wood.

Of course the effect of the shellac does depend on which particular grade of shellac you used. Seal Coat is only moderately light, what I would call a dirty blonde. There are lighter shellacs available in flakes--Super Blonde or Ultra Pale for example. Shellac doesn't darken over time.

In addition, you should know that the maple will darken and yellow over time pretty much regardless of the finish.

The other thing is that you can't "have your cake and eat it too" since it is the amber in the finish that does most of the grain popping. The lighter you go with the first coat the less the quilting will show up.

Thanks, Steve. I do have a question about that statement I've highlighted. I guess you're right about wanting my cake...I want the quilting to pop as much as possible, but still want it to be as blonde as possible. Instead of using the Zinsser product, should I consider going to an ultra-blonde dewaxed shellac flake?

Thanks!

- Keith

[Sam Yerardi]

Does it say Clear or Amber on the can? Steve is right in that you may have to mix your own shellac from bleached shellac flakes. Even the Clear will have an amber to golden color to it.

[Sam Yerardi]

The reason that the first coat limits what happens afterwards is because of its sealing aspect. Existing shellac will meld with newly-applied shellac but the first coat is probably going to limit how much further into the wood (thus popping the grain more) any subsequent coats are able to go.

[Steve Schoene]

If you strip off the Seal Coat and use a lighter shellac such as Ultra Pale from www.homesteadfinishing.com (http://www.homesteadfinishing.com), you will see a slightly lighter overall color. However, the quilting will not show up as dramatically. Alas, life is full of choices.

One thing that can be done is to dye the maple with a dilute solution dark brown analine dye. After that dries, the surface can be sanded to lighen up the surface while leaving dye that has penetrated more deeply into the structures that create the figure. In general the overall effect will be a to darken the maple, but the contrast between the figure and the surface will be considerably greater. Beyond a certain point, the more you sand to lighten the surface the less dramatic will be the figure. Again it is a balancing act.

Zinsser Clear is lighter than either of the light dewaxed shellac flakes because it has been chemically bleached. The bleached shellac sold by Zinsser still contains it's natural wax so you cannot use a waterborne finish, such as the Polycrillic over it. There is no dry or flake bleached shellac available since the shelf life of the dry product is extremely short-- a matter of just a few days.