Shellac Questions

[Mike S.]

I've already done quite a bit of googling but still have a few questions. My daughter has a large screen tv and I'm building her a entertainment center for it which will consist of 2 bookcase type towers with a shelfed bridge across the top. She wants it made from knotty pine/pondorosa pine and have a old pine look. I plan on using shellac, blonde for the first coat and garnet for the finish coats.

1. I read where urathane can put put of dewaxed shellac (I ordered the shellac flakes from Rockler and neither the bottles nor the website say what it is). how do I tell if it's dewaxed.
2. I plan on brushing it on since I'm not that accomplished with the spray gun yet and the jar said to use a 2lb cut for seal coat and 3lbs for finish coats. I've read somewhere in the archives to finish with 2lb. Where do most of you by your shellac, this stuff cost 6.99 for a 2oz bag. If I do try to spray it what should I cut it too. I work at a dealership and have a quality body shop gravity gun. And any other suggestions would greatly be appreciated. Thanks, Mike S. n0yii@sbcglobal dot net

[Ron]

Mike, I've used Zinsser's sanding sealer (dewaxed shellac) as a base with good results. I purchasd mine at another local WW store for about $8 a qt. I'm pretty sure I saw it at the local Rockler's also though.

I usually apply mine with a disposable foam brush, removing and marks with a light sanding between coats.

This product comes as a 2lb cut with instructions/mixing ratios to reduce it further.

Their regular shellac comes as a 3lb cut, but, I normally thin it to a 2# or a bit less and build up with an extra coat or two.

[David]

My earnest suggestion for you is to use a rag to apply an approximately

2# cut. It's easy as pie but it will take quite a few coats to get the proper build. It's the easiest way (rag instead of brushing) to get a level finish that will need little sanding. I've also sprayed shellac with HVLP, but it's usually more trouble than it's worth. I usually sand LIGHTLY with 320 or 400 after about 5 coats. Then I put on another couple of coats. I finish up with the maroon, gray, and finally a white pad if I want a hint of gloss. Shellac will dry enough in under an hour to recoat, or to sand, even under 60 degrees. It's suitable for using down to approximately zero degrees, AAMOF.

David

Mike S. wrote:

[Jody]

If you really want to know if you have waxed or dewaxed shellac is just let it sit a while. If you mix it in a mason jar just put it on a shelf for a day or two. If it's waxed all the wax will be at the bottom. If you have waxed and want dewaxed just siphon off the shellac and leave the wax. You will get a warmer finish if you rag it on and not brush or spray and a 2# cut is fine for that. I sometimes spray a 1.5# quick coat as a sealer for stain. If you spray it you cut it with what you mixed it with.

[Patriarch]

"Mike S." wrote in news:K_ZGd.19848$ [e-mail]:

Generally, if it doesn't say it's dewaxed, it isn't. That's a gross generalization, however.

What David said about padding shellac is 'money', and David sprays almost everything else. The information coincides with/may have come from originally the guru of shellac, O'Deen hisself. Following his simple instructions has made project finishing with shellac almost foolproof. Almost.

Pricey that way, isn't it? Woodcraft,

elsewhere. Most I've paid was $22 for a pound of german-refined, ultrapale, dewaxed special blend.

Zinsser Sealcoat is premixed, dewaxed blonde, 2# cut, $8.50, in quart cans at Home Depot. The 'regular' canned Zinsser has wax in it, and is just fine, unless you want to top coat it.

You can spray it with a Critter siphon sprayer. I would think a fancier rig would work, too. But padding is great.

If I can find O'Deen's instructions, I'll repost them under a seperate thread header.

Patriarch

[Mike S.]

Thanks guys, I printed and saved your info also the O'Deen's instructions. I'll practice this on scraps and when all is done I'll post some pics.

[SonomaProducts.com]

Slightly OT:

I have been doing some "antiqued" Pine pieces lately. To get the faux old look you might want to try the following. I'll post a picture tonight of a recent project I did (if you're interested).

First I use a belt sander with 80 or 100 and create some random gouges along the edges. I've found gouging out faces is not as succesfull, just looks bad when stained. Then I punch random holes. I use the points of a pair of tin snips, back edg of a claw hammer and create some dings with a 2lb sledge.

Pre-stain conditioner, stain with minwax Puritan Pine, then the (not so) secret, I paint it with a dark brown or black glaze (interior paint with glaze thinner) and wipe it off immediately, leaving it in the crags, holes, seams, etc. I use a wiped poly and buff it down with wax but shellac would be nice too.

[Mike S.]

If you can post the pics or email them to me. I'd like to see how that system turns out. Thanks

[Conan the Librarian]

I don't bother adding dings and such to my pine projects (not on purpose, anyway :-), but I do use a somewhat similar approach for finishing to get an aged look. I start with Minwax "natural wood" stain, and then I use Plantation Walnut wiping stain (thinned as necessary) applied and wiped off immediately to give a bit of color.

I follow that with a homemade brew of turps, spar varnish and BLO tinted with a bit of artist oil pigment. Wipe on, let sit for a few minutes and wipe off/buff. Repeat as necessary.

This has come as close as anything I've found to matching the "old pine" look that's common on southwestern or Mexican style furniture. (You can see an example at:

I used to use shellac; a three or four coats of garnet to get the color I wanted and then topped with a couple of coats of blonde for a bit of protection for the color coats. SWMBO said it looked too "perfect", so that's when I started playing around with other options.

Chuck Vance (who still prefers to finish with shellac whenever possible)