Originally Posted by
Andrew Seemann
Shellac is a wonderful finish. Once you get the hang of it, you may prefer it; I know I do.
However, if you are used to solvent varnishes and wiping oils, it can be frustrating at first. For varnish, you have a few minutes to brush it out, for shellac, you have seconds. The alcohol flashes off very quickly. You can't go over something you brushed or wiped 20 seconds ago; the alcohol is already half gone and the finish part dry. For true french polishing, the rag is actually oiled to keep it from sticking to the partially dry shellac.
I usually brush or wipe it on, although I need to learn to spray it one of these days. It sands out very nicely, so a super even coat isn't always necessary. The secret is to work very quickly, and not to go over things that are already part dry except where you have to (like joining in your current brushload with something you did earlier in that coat). It can be challenging at first to to a large area, like a table top. Also, it won't level out like a oil poly, so you just try to put it on evenly and clean it up with abrasive if necessary.
Also, while SealCoat can often be used directly from the can as it is a 2 pound cut, the regular blonde and orange are 3 pound cuts, and really too thick to be used straight from the can. Mixing them with about an equal part of alcohol will make them much friendlier.
Fresh shellac from a can is just fine. It does degrade over time though. Supposedly it is good for 2 years, but I avoid using anything older than 1 year, unless I am putting a slop coat on shop furniture or fixtures. If I am doing "fine" work, I typically pick up a new can of SealCoat for that project, unless I have new stuff on had. Somewhere on Zissner's site is the secret decoder key to their date codes.