Shellac attack

[Eric Gourieux]

I applied several coats of shellac (off of the lathe) to a large HF and have fairly thick overlap to deal with. I probably should have thinned it before I applied it, but I wanted to fill and smooth out some irregularities in the surface. Anyway, I now have a lot of sanding to do. My plan is to apply either WTF or lacquer once I get the shellac smoothed out.

Is there any way of smoothing out the shellac other than sanding? Can I apply DNA to the dried shellac and smooth it out that way? Any other suggestions.

[Bill Hensley]

Put some music it on and start sanding. Wet sanding would probably go quicker, just be careful and check your progress as you go.

[Doug Herzberg]

DNA should remove most of the shellac build up. Happens to me all the time. I use flakes - don't know what they put in the cans - so maybe this doesn't apply if that's what you used.

[James Combs]

FWIW, WTF is mostly shellac, you may not need a separate shellac application. I have messed WTF application up before and stripped it off with DNA.

[Bernie Weishapl]

Eric I always sand mine to level. Be careful when sanding though.

[Michael Mills]

DNA should re-melt it quickly. I do mine on the lathe; wet 4-0 steel wool with DNA, and burnish. You can do off the lathe but it will take more hand rubbing with the 4-0.

[Richard Coers]

You can use a cabinet scraper, or single edge razor blade to remove a thick line or run. Then sand. You can use a backer block, or thick felt block to keep the sandpaper rigid to remove thick lines as well. I always sand the shellac anyway before adding more finish.

[Eric Gourieux]

Thanks for the info, guys. Has anybody applied WTF over BLO? I have been assuming that WTF would not be compatible with blo. I hope I'm wrong, as that would save me a lot of time.

[Jim Burr]

I love Bills' response!! Anyone up for the "White Album"? Ha!!! I haven't tried shellac yet...so many questions...Lb weight, cutting, mixing...lack of brain cells, to much sawdust (not an issue in my shop!!!). Something to look at in the future...until then...sand on Eric!!

[Robert Henrickson]

Thanks for the info, guys. Has anybody applied WTF over BLO? I have been assuming that WTF would not be compatible with blo. I hope I'm wrong, as that would save me a lot of time.

Not so long ago, John keeton discussed his sequence of BLO > Shellac > WTF in a thread on SMC