I've been trying to dewax a quart can of this stuff for a couple weeks now. It looks like the best I will be able to do is to get 50% dewaxed product from it, and that is being generous. The Flexner book says to expect 5% wax. They must be decanting the dewaxed portion off to make Seal Coat and spray bombs and selling what's left to suckers (like me) as regular shellac. What a gyp.
Perhaps you are using the wrong product ???
Hax Planks wrote:
Sure you don't just have an out-of-date can? Check it. Esterfication seems the best answer. Second best - water contamination.
I suspect your reply is right on. I've used their dewaxed shellac a few times, and all was well. On the 50% dewaxed note, I think he's seeing something that Flexner doesn't mention. I had some shellac a few years ago that I tried to decant, and only 1/2 of it settled out of the wax. It stayed this way for several weeks, and I sent a query to Jeff Jewitt. He replied they probably included an additive to suppress the wax settling. There's nothing at all wrong with that, and it just means less stirring. Don't remember the brand, but other shellacs have decanted okay.
OTOH, for the past maybe 8 years I've bought dewaxed shellac flakes from Homestead.
GerryG
Esterfication seems
Probably not. I've got some stuff I mixed up from raw flakes that's at least 40% wax. The bullseye stuff is probably made up from something along the same general line. I wouldn't say this means they are ripping you off on purpose. Just that if you want dewaxed shellac, don't buy their regular waxy stuff and expect to decant a useful quantity of it.
According to their label their regular stuff is dewaxed. I've never seen any Bulls-eye NON-DE-waxed shellac on the shelves.
But as many have noted, mixing your own is the way to go. Shellac is best used when fresh.
You might want to reread those labels. I've never seen a dewaxed or wax-free claim on the regular shellac, only on the Seal Coat (a 2# cut dewaxed clear shellac). One clue to wax in the regular is the caution on the label that it is not recommended for use under polyurethane.
Yeah, I like mixing my own as well, but always keep a can of Seal Coat around for odd uses that I can never predict, but always come up, and are not worth mixing up flakes.
I was talking about their regular shellac, not the seal coat.
That's interesting. Maybe there is an additive. I'd hate to call it a gyp if it wasn't, but I'd be amazed if there was less than 25% wax the way it looks now, additive or not. Buying the flakes is more economical. You can get a pound of the dewaxed color of your choice for $20 at Woodcraft and I saw all varieties for $17 online. The seal coat is about $10-12/quart, which is reasonably competitive with the flakes if you like the color and need to get it from any nearby hardware store. I guess the moral of the story is buy dewaxed from the start if you want it dewaxed.
I forgot to DAGS and put a 1.5 lb (50/50) cut of amber bullseye under a coat of oil gel stain and oil poly and have noticed NO ill effects. I did let it dry overnight and sanded at 330 grit. After I learned of my "mistake" I checked to make sure the poly wouldn't lift. It's not going anywhere! Hard as a rock and sanded to fine white powder. It looks like it will be just fine. I plan to put 2 more coats of ploy on it and I doubt there will be problems. Maybe I'll luck out...
On Wed, 23 Feb 2005 09:41:41 -0500, the inscrutable Hax Planks spake:
Maybe you shouldn't have use that jug of 70% isopropyl alcohol from the medicine cabinet. Is that water or wax?
I just made a jar of SuperBlonde from the flakes I got from those olden times when O'Deen was de King of Sheelack. There is NO wax, no bug parts, just nice shellac.
----------------------------------------------------------------- When I die, I'm leaving my body to science fiction. --Steven Wright ----------------------------
It still makes for a really nice finish, regardless. :)
Aut inveniam viam aut faciam
I didn't try to thin it before trying to get it to settle out. I would never use drug store IPA to try to thin shellac. I did thin some with denatured alcohol and it did make it worse.
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