Shellac brushing help needed

[brian_j_roth]

I'm working on a picture frame and having problems trying to brush schellac. I'm using waxy bullseye clear (dated April 2006). I cut it down to less than 2 lbs.

Previously I padded my shellac and had good results. I thought I had this shellac stuff figured out, now I feel like a knucklehead.

This time I rubbed out and was not happy with the results, so reapplied and rubbed out again, still not happy, had dull spots, etc. In frustration, I stripped all of it off with an alchohol soaked rag.

I think I just put too many coats on too thick, and too fast. Anyone ever had this happen during thier first attempts?

I just reapplied the first coat, and tried to put it on as thin as possible.

How soon should I wait until the next coat? And after how many coats should I stop?

[Father Haskell]

Dull spots are probably from areas of end grain absorbing the thin cut shellac.

Get the Bullseye in the spray can. No wax, and no oxygen to turn the bug juice into a nondrying gum. Three wet, thin coats, letting each coat dry to the touch. Rub out after an overnight cure.

[Ron Hock]

First, with your previous success at padding, I'd think you'd be padding still (and I recommend it.) Second, use freshly mixed shellac starting with flakes and alcohol. The stuff in the cans is problematic and may or may not be any good regardless of the claims made on the label. After spending so much time and effort on any given project, why cheat on the finish? Freshly mixed shellac is remarkably water-resistant and durable and dries almost as fast as you can rub it on (which is why it's so easy to do many coats.)

It's not oxygen that does that. The acids in the shellac and the alcohol solvent begin to esterify as soon as they're mixed (oxygen or no) and it's the esterification that sooner or later makes the mixed shellac refuse to dry (and even if it dries, the film formed from old mixed shellac won't be as waterproof as it could be.)

Mixing fresh shellac is too easy to do and the product so superior to the canned stuff that I can't imagine why anyone would use canned shellac on a woodworking project. If you have some questionable shellac around, save it for priming/sealing when you paint the house. But for that end-table or guitar, why not the best?