Rubbing Out Shellac ?

[Richard Line]

I've shellacked a pine chest with several coats of amber shellac following (mostly) advise from a recent posting by Pop. Wood. That posting then says to rub out the final coat, but it doesn't say what to use for rubbing it out. I've tried a pad of cloth (old t-shirt) and some planning curls (I don't have many at the moment). Neither of these seem to improve the surface. The as applied surface is on the shiny side, but with a bit of roughness.

What are your recommendations or suggestions. I've held back from sandpaper at this point.

Thanks for any suggestions.

[John Keeton]

I would think the reference is to pumice, rottenstone, or some other abrasive or series of abrasives along with a lubricant.

[Mike Allen1010]

I would think the reference is to pumice, rottenstone, or some other abrasive or series of abrasives along with a lubricant.

M+1 to Johns comments. I like spray with water, sprinkle rotten stone and polish with felt block. Be sure to fully clean. Little paste wax after works great for me.

[chris carter]

After each coat I rub it down with kraft paper. The finish comes out buttery smooth. Depending on how good each coat is, just rubbing the final one might work fine. If not, it won't hurt anything.

Funny story - we have a china cabinet we bought long ago as a piece of unfinished furniture and the place we bought it said they could have someone paint it black and poly it for us (to match our dining table). I knew nothing of woodworking at the time, and did not have the means to paint/poly it so that was a great option. My wife complained nonstop for years that the finish was rough. It WAS rough. After a hiatus she started complaining about it again recently, but now I'm a full-blooded woodworking amateur. So I grabbed some kraft paper and started rubbing. "Oh wow!!!" she said. I rubbed down the whole cabinet. Now she loves it.

I'm just saying, simple kraft paper can work wonders on many film finishes. I get the heavy weight stuff from the home center that contractors use to protect floors while working. I use it to protect my bench during glue-ups and finishing. Then I tear off a corner for rubbing. Very convenient.

Not historically accurate though.....

[steven c newman]

These. drawers have an Amber Shellac finish..
Painting Day, shellac done.JPG
And the "rubbing out" was simply done with 0000 steel wool...surface was checked via a fingertip.

rather a bit mess free...YMMV...

[Dave Anderson NH]

In line with what Chris Carter says, try an old-fashioned paper bag. They work very well. Alternately rub out with paste wax and OOOO steel wool and then buff it up.

[Prashun Patel]

For shellac what has worked well for me is using automotive rubbing compound and then buffing/polishing compound. You can use it with a power buffer or by hand. Beware of applying too much speed or force as it can heat and melt the finish just enough to leave cloudy streaks.

[Richard Coers]

For me, buffing out is now done with Mirka Abralon. It goes up to 4000 grit and you can adjust the sheen with finer grit and mineral spirits wet sanding.

[Christopher Charles]

My variation is to rub out the final finish with 0000 steel wool and hard paste wax. Will have to try the craft paper trick.

[glenn bradley]

The as applied surface is on the shiny side, but with a bit of roughness.

The rubbing out method needs to align with your level of roughness. If you have nibs you are feeling when passing your hand across the surface you are not going to want to address those with X000 grit abrasives. I need my surface to feel smooth to the touch before I switch to really high grit abrasives. My final sanding for a shellac finish is generally 400-600 grit. I then run a final coat that is very, very, very thin . . . did I say it was thin? Just enough to wet the surface. This coat is often drying behind me as I go it is so minimal. Now I have a surface that I can burnish with a white non-woven pad, a grocery bag or other innocuous materiel.

[Richard Line]

Wow! What a great response. Thank all of you for your responses. Now, I've got to choose which to use. I think that is why there are non-display parts to most of our work – right. I've been tied up the pass couple of days, so haven't been able to try any of the suggestions.
Thanks again.

[Mike Allen1010]

Glen makes a good point- one of the beauties of shellac is ability to thin with alcohol, especially relevant for finish coat.

If you French polish with a pad, for final coat you can “stretch” the existing applied finish by using almost dry pad with just a couple drop of alcohol and a lot of pressure. If the pad starts to drag you can either add a couple more drops of alcohol or drop of mineral oil. Push as hard as U can without sticking. If you use mineral oil, you’ll have to clean off with clean pad and hint of alcohol.

Might take a bit of practice, but good results.

Cheers, Mike

[Richard Hutchings]

I used shellac on my first mandolin. I actually just used the palm of my hand to buff it out to a beautiful shine.