Shellac is stupid

[Jebediah Eckert]

Nathan, I’m a middle of the road finisher at best. I have used shellac a ton on small projects and find it easy to use, gives good results, and easy to fix if you mess up a coat.. I know this helps you exactly zero but this might......FWW has a YouTube video “Can the can(Ned) shellac” by Mike Pekovich. This is the application method I use. I took a class from him years ago and have been using it ever since. But that is when I first started using shellac, so I have never used any other method. The video is about mixing your own flakes but he shows his application method in the video. I’m not sure if Pekovich talks about it in the video or not, but he cuts the canned stuff 50/50 with DNA when he uses that. Hope it helps.

[Nathan Johnson]

I'll check it, Jebediah, thanks.
It's clearly a Me problem and not a shellac problem.

[Peter Kelly]

I'd ditch the Zissner stuff and go with flakes and anhydrous isopropyl alcohol. Both dissolved and flake shellac have a shelf life and the canned stuff doesn't generally indicate a sell by date. Shellac is a natural product so flakes themselves are all different grades too.

http://www.shellacfinishes.com/produ...shellac-flakes

[Prashun Patel]

Anhydrous alcohol only stays that way if you store it in a way homeowners really can’t. Ethanol and ipa will absorb water from the air. About 5pct.

I would not get hung up on the water content of any alcohol. Now I wouldn’t go using rubbing alcohol or hand sanitizing spray- these may have you to 30pct water added. But for normal dna or ipa the water content is minimal enough that grain raising is a 2minute issue. If you spray it’s even less of an issue.

[Curt Harms]

Also keep in mind that there are at least 2 kinds of "the canned stuff". My memory says Sealcoat is dewaxed and a 2 lb. cut. There is also a canned product that has wax in it and is a 3 lb. cut. The stuff with wax in it isn't good for a barrier coat, the wax will prevent other finishes sticking to the shellac. I'm not sure where and why the wax-in stuff is used. I did buy a can of the wax-in stuff and was able to decant to shellac without disturbing the wax layer on the bottom.

[mike stenson]

If you're finishing with shellac, it doesn't matter if the naturally occurring wax is left in.

Non-dewaxed shellac is easier to use IMO.

[Bruce King]

Check out this guys opinion on shellac
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.woodshopnews.com/.amp/columns-blogs/shellac-as-a-sealer-its-all-just-hype

[Stan Calow]

Bruce, that is an interesting link and I respect Bob Flexner. One thing he didn't mention was preventing blotching. I thought that was the main reason to use sealer (of any kind) on new work.
Also, I recall Homestead Finishing used to sell an additive for shellac that would reduce the ridging problem he mentions. Anyone ever use that successfully?

[bill epstein]

There's just no mystery to padding if you start out right.

Cut about half the foot out of an old cotton sock and make it into a golf ball size wad. Put the ball into several layers of cheesecloth and twist it tight like you're closing a plastic bag. Dip it into the shellac then squeeze out all you can against the side of the container. I use those hard plastic drink cups that are a few bucks for a hundred. Start your passes an inch in from the edge of the workpiece and continue to the end lifting off after you've passed that edge, like an airplane landing and lifting off for a 'touch and go'. Then come back the other way. You have the right amount of "wet" if you can feel the pad drag slightly. When the pad becomes stubborn to move, only then go back and re-dip.

The Bullseye I use from the can is a 3 lb. cut. Thin it 2 parts shellac to one part Alky for a finish coat or half and half for a 1 1/2 lb. cut for sealing. With these thin coats you can re-coat after just a few minutes. Hand sand very lightly with 220 after you lay on 2 or 3 coats, then after each subsequent coat.

Sure the paper will clog a bit but thin coats won't "corn".

[Ed Gibbons]

Check out this guys opinion on shellac
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.woodshopnews.com/.amp/columns-blogs/shellac-as-a-sealer-its-all-just-hype

I agree with Bob Flexner.

[Phil Mueller]

I recently watched a Rob Cosman vid on finishing. One thing he said - which I tend to agree with - is as hobbyists, it’s difficult to become proficient with many different finish options. He suggested to pick a few, and work with them until you get confident in the results.

Even though it’s a recent video, it’s essentially what I’ve done for the last 5 years or so. Shellac is one of those finishes. I’ve sprayed it to minimize blotching on certain woods and I’ve used it as the full finish. I have even become fairly proficient at french polishing. After a lot of trial and error, I would not call it an easy finish, and have lately used it only for french polishing or spraying a first coat for blotchy wood. It’s not the best for everything, but I do like using it.

[Thomas Crawford]

Didn't read this whole thread but I just used shellac for the first time. Used tiger flakes from TFWW. I followed the instructions in Mike Pekovich's "The Why and How of Woodworking" and it worked really well.

Rubbing it on in a straight line with a cloth and absolutely not going back over the same spot twice seemed to be the key. It was nice when I got to the 4th coat I understood what he meant by feeling the finish start to build.

Anyway just wanted to plug that book since it was a great help and I thought explained the process well.

[Thomas Crawford]

Also I think Schwarz was recommending Everclear to dissolve the flakes, haven't tried that yet.

[David Bassett]

Also I think Schwarz was recommending Everclear to dissolve the flakes, haven't tried that yet.

That shouldn't make much (if any) difference in finish quality (or effort), but would be healthier than many (most?) denatured alcohols. However, make sure you can get 191 proof. Here*, and I'm told in many other states, the max allowed is 151 which will have too much water for shellac.

(*No, this isn't an air quality measure. It's a liquor license thing, for which I haven't found an explanation.)

[Thomas Crawford]

That shouldn't make much (if any) difference in finish quality (or effort), but would be healthier than many (most?) denatured alcohols. However, make sure you can get 191 proof. Here*, and I'm told in many other states, the max allowed is 151 which will have too much water for shellac.

(*No, this isn't an air quality measure. It's a liquor license thing, for which I haven't found an explanation.)

Thanks for the tip, looks like I can get 190 proof here in TX. I'm willing to try anything with reduced toxicity.