new to me

May 10, 2018 22 Replies

did not know shellac is made from bugs



not sure i have ever used shellac but that was a surprise to learn



so now i can diy shellac by raising bugs



now i wonder if i can alter the final color by feeding the bugs flowers or something



the lacquer used by many japanese artisans is from trees



that black they use is about the only finish that actually looks better than the wood itself


Electric Comet on Thu, 10 May 2018

10:54:38 -0700 typed in rec.woodworking the following:

You have to raise the correct bugs, though.

Yep.

Electric Comet tried (and failed) to coherently state:

It's considered a food-safe coating, and is used as a confectioners glaze (e.g. for Junior Mints).

And technically, it's made from bug secretions scraped from a tree, not from the bugs themselves. c.f. silk worm.

What? Now you tell me. I have a pot cooking now of ants, mosquitoes and c*ck roaches. Thought it would boil and turn into shellac.

Black-fly season is here ... the finish would need to be - reddish black < my > blood + insect

John T.

Yeah! i was surprised to; about that Shellac/ bug connection . It seems d ifferent beetles make different colors. So If you are a purist and get She llac flakes, You can get at least 5 distinct varieties in shades , then com es waxed and un-waxed, I haven?t done my research but ?Wax ed? is: they all have wax added to the Shellac ,who Knows what Bees , Carnauba What have You. Then The alcohol Hoo-Do there is , Popular Methanol a Prohibition Fav. Cau se it's Poison, then Ethanol which is more like Booze and You may live thru that one. Pure Grain Alcohol or the strongest proof like Everclear. Booze You will f ind is ironically some of the best cuts for shellac Flakes. Drink up fellow Woodies and don?t forget to add the Bugs R! Bo.

No, but that's what they use to glaze Hostess CupCakes. ;-)

Personally, I use optical grade Isopropyl Alcohol to dissolve my shellac.

(I got a surplus 10gal drum from a former employer)

I have used Heat isopropyl alchohol Automotive de-icer. It works quite well and also I have used it to rejuvinate old shellac finishes to break it down a bit and fill the scratches before French Polising I also have used BEHLEN BEHKOL a great product but a bit pricey But so are the flakes so You get what You pay for.Parks used to make a denatured alchohol that was mostly ethanol, like Behlen. Cleanstrip and the other popular products are mostly metanol Poison stuff. It gets into your pores lungs and burns Your eyes just being around it.

If You look up de-natured You will find it was a product of the prohibition era. Designed so people woukdn't make booze from ethanol which You can survive from when cut to 100 proof. So a lot of folks died drinking it by ignorance and by our Government. No mater how much You cut anything with metanol if You drink it You either go blind or die. and painfully at that. I must admit You scored big on 100 gal.'s of opyical grade Isopropyl

I had a friend who explained Japanese laquerware an ornate inayed black finish. It seems like that stuff was also made from bugs.

Maybe we could put up bug zappers in the right locations and make our own. Theyre's lot's of Bugs to experiment with, I dont think they tried all of them yet. rick B.

I must admit You scored big on 10 gal.'s of opyical grade Isopropyl

I have used Heat Isopropyl alchohol Automotive de-icer. It works quite well For thinning, also I have used it to rejuvinate old shellac finishes to break it down a bit and fill the scratches before French Polising I also have used BEHLEN BEHKOL a great product but a bit pricey but so are the flakes. So You get what You pay for. Parks used to make a denatured alchohol that was mostly ethanol, like Behlen. Cleanstrip and the other popular products are mostly metanol Poison stuff. It gets into your pores,lungs and burns Your eyes just being around it.

If You look up de-natured You will find it was a product of the prohibition era. Designed so people woukdn't make booze from ethanol which You can survive from when cut to 100 proof. So a lot of folks died drinking it by ignorance and by our Government. No mater how much You cut anything with metanol if You drink it You either go blind or die and painfully at that.

I had a friend who explained Japanese laquerware an ornate inayed black finish. It seems like that stuff was also made from bugs.

Maybe we could put up bug zappers in the right locations and make our own new finishes. Theyre's lot's of Bugs to experiment with, I hardly think they tried all of them yet. rick B.

My car can run on E-85 ethanol. Do you know why it's called E-85? Because it's only 85% ethanol. The other 15% is gasoline. Do you know why 15%? Because at 10%, people would still drink it. :-)

Wow that's something once the Alchohol Evaporates it' no longer poison I heard the coat jelly beans too for the Shine. I wonder what ele the F.D.A. has approved for this stuff. rick B.

Here's the link about denatured Alchol and Prohibition

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rick B.

Pills. Helps them slide down easier.

You don't have to denature alcohol by adding poison, just something that'll make you really sick. ...like alcohol of epicac. ;-)

crazy now bugs even have to be correct

if i had to guess it would require many bugs and managing many bugs would be an entire operation to create the environment and all the other details

will just buy poly for now as it comes in can and it has predictable properties

Electric Comet wrote in news:pdf75t$la1$1 @dont-email.me:

Shellac in a can has predictable properties as well. Zinsser has two varities available everywhere: Shellac and Seal Coat. The Seal Coat is dewaxed shellac.

Puckdropper

I read a long time back that shellac was originally used to make M&Ms melt in your mouth not in your hand.

Urban legend. However, other candies did use shellac. See the straight dope article.

Electric Comet on Tue, 15 May 2018

10:59:25 -0700 typed in rec.woodworking the following:

Of course, incorrect bugs are not a feature, either.

Bug wrangling is not for the faint of heart. Nothing worse than a bug stampede in the middle of the night. Okay, maybe the bugboys playing harmonica all night while they ride the night watch.

tschus pyotr

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