Shellac cut

[David Kenagy]

New to shellac, I want a bit of ambering before spraying water-based polyurethane. The first effort was Gen'l Finishes oil stain, waited 7 days then brushed two coats of one-lb cut shellac, sanded very lightly, then sprayed 2 coats of TopCoat.

Next project won't have stain. I'd like to spray shellac as well as the TopCoat. How do you judge whether to use a 1-lb or 2-lb cut? Why is there actually a row on charts for a 1.5-lb cut? How badly refined are my judgments about finish quality??

[Jim Becker]

Shellac is always best with the thinnest application. If you are spraying, the thinner cut is going to be preferable. I personally use the Zinsser SealCoat "out of the can" for this purpose, but if you need/want something with more color, you'll have to mix your own.

[John TenEyck]

I, too, use Sealcoat shellac for nearly every shellac need I have. Straight out of the can it's a 2# cut, and sprays great. It gives a slight amber tint compared to the water clear acrylic topcoats I typically use. If I want more amber color, or I want some other color, I add Transtint dye to the Sealcoat and spray that as a toner. You can get any color you want. Honey Amber is the Transtint color most often used to mimic the color of traditional OB varnish.

John

[Prashun Patel]

+1 for seal coat. No mixing. Stays stable fairly long. Decent color. Sprays great. Seals great.

The Big Boxes will have gallons pretty cheap. I split it into sealed quarts and it stays good for a long time.

[John TenEyck]

HD sells Sealcoat in a box with 2 gals cans inside, for about $78 with free delivery or in-store pickup. It will keep for 2+ years and you won't have problems with it eating a hole through the can and making a huge mess (which I know to sometimes happen) if you transfer it to quart jars, as Prashun does.

John

[Edwin Santos]

HD sells Sealcoat in a box with 2 gals cans inside, for about $78 with free delivery or in-store pickup. It will keep for 2+ years and you won't have problems with it eating a hole through the can and making a huge mess (which I know to sometimes happen) if you transfer it to quart jars, as Prashun does.

John

+1 on this warning that Sealcoat will eventually leak out of the gallon can and make a huge mess. Unfortunately I speak from experience on this. So I too transfer to glass mason jars.

In my case, when I spray Sealcoat, I do not do so straight out of the can, I usually cut it with alcohol to something approximating a 1.5 cut or even a less. But this is not to say a heavier cut is wrong per se, I just happen to prefer multiple thin coats in most cases.

[Tom Bender]

I make a 1 pound cut from flakes and wipe it on. Goes on evenly and very quickly. I work out of a small mason jar that I store my wipe cloth in. Stays good for months. No cleanup. Hard to justify spraying.