Dewaxed Shellac wearing off - should I seal with something else when done?

[Luis Reyes]

Hi All,

I made myself a monitor stand from Cherry wood and finished it with 3 or 4 coats of a dewaxed shellac I had mixed. I didn't use any other finish. The monitor stand has a middle shelf where I either store my laptop or my keyboard / mouse. The finish is wearing off in the middle shelf now and I'm wondering if I should've added a coat of paste wax or something after the shellac to maintain the finish over a longer period of time.

Thanks in advance!

[Brian Tymchak]

Shellac is not a durable finish that will hold up to scuffing like that. A wax coat is not going to help. You need something tougher like poly or a good varnish. If the finish is still just shellac, I would clean it, put a fresh coat of dewaxed shellac down, then a couple coats of GF Arm-R-Seal. ARS is an oil based varnish and will provide a very durable finsh that will hold up to scuffing, etc. You could also use a water based poly. Of course, it's best to minimize the scuffing on a finished wood surface in general, but the ARS or poly will really help.

[Mel Fulks]

Orange shellac is the most durable kind and it was used a lot on surfaces that would get some wear. If you bought it already mixed and in a can it might have been old. Best to use it fresh. Wax is fine on shellac if you want to use it, but orange shellac is pretty tough. It
has been used on wood patterns in foundry’s.

[roger wiegand]

Just add a fresh coat of shellac. Applying it using a French polishing technique will avoid too much build up over time and produce a gorgeous finish and can be done in just a few minutes. No reason to use dewaxed shellac when you're not top coating it with a water based finish (no reason not to either).

I find shellac to be durable enough for most purposes and by far the easiest finish to repair or refresh. Scratches in a varnish finish, polyurethane or other polymers, are much harder to deal with, though they are less prone to happen in the first place.

[Jim Becker]

I agree with Roger. Shellac dries to what is actually a very hard finish, but as a result, it's a little brittle and can scratch. A quick reapplication of a very thin coat will make it look nearly new if not totally new. It doesn't have "give" like stuff with polyurethane resin in them...which was the reason that that "poly" stuff was originally develop for floors.