Who likes shellac?
- Thread starter jaegerhund
- Start date
nickao
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- Feb 24, 2008
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Spray shellac is nice and works great. Because it is sprayed you are assured there is no wax in it, which is the most important feature of a good shellac, especially when using as a sanding sealer.
Spray shellac is really thin I would guess less than a 1 lb cut, which means if you are using nothing else you will need loads of spray. I am referring to ready made spray in a can. With an HVLP you can adjust the shellac by making it yourself which to me is one of the most forgiving finishes you can use. Easy to apply and easy to repair.
Because of the ready bought spray being so thin I do not suggest you use it alone for a floor. I use the spray as a first coat and then add two more coats sanding in between for a floor application. You can also add several coats of wax after the spray if you want to.
One poster Jesse Cloud suggested a way to apply the shellac in this thread and he was spot on.
He states:" For an easy low tech, natural looking finish, get a spray can of shellac. Spray on several coats (15 min between coats). Let it harden for a few days, then rub on some paste wax with steel wool. Easy to do and it looks great."
Great suggestion!
You can also spray the shellac, then use steel wood for sanding between coats or better yet a scotchbrite pad to eliminate the little metal slivers from occurring. Finish up with a coat of wax like Jesse suggests. If only using spray, for more durability and resistance to alcohol, use the wax as the last coat if using for a table top. Buff to a shine.
Nickao
Spray shellac is really thin I would guess less than a 1 lb cut, which means if you are using nothing else you will need loads of spray. I am referring to ready made spray in a can. With an HVLP you can adjust the shellac by making it yourself which to me is one of the most forgiving finishes you can use. Easy to apply and easy to repair.
Because of the ready bought spray being so thin I do not suggest you use it alone for a floor. I use the spray as a first coat and then add two more coats sanding in between for a floor application. You can also add several coats of wax after the spray if you want to.
One poster Jesse Cloud suggested a way to apply the shellac in this thread and he was spot on.
He states:" For an easy low tech, natural looking finish, get a spray can of shellac. Spray on several coats (15 min between coats). Let it harden for a few days, then rub on some paste wax with steel wool. Easy to do and it looks great."
Great suggestion!
You can also spray the shellac, then use steel wood for sanding between coats or better yet a scotchbrite pad to eliminate the little metal slivers from occurring. Finish up with a coat of wax like Jesse suggests. If only using spray, for more durability and resistance to alcohol, use the wax as the last coat if using for a table top. Buff to a shine.
Nickao
I get my shellac flakes from Vijay in San Diego: http://www.shellacfinishes.biz/
Great prices and quality. He also has hide glue sometimes.
My shellac finish schedule is spray 2-3 heavy coats of 2lb cut w/HVLP gun waiting ~15 minutes between coats. The next day level out with 0000 steel wool and a good application of paste wax . I've had some 'corning" problems when using sandpaper on shellac finishes. 0000 steel wool works much better for me.
Great prices and quality. He also has hide glue sometimes.
My shellac finish schedule is spray 2-3 heavy coats of 2lb cut w/HVLP gun waiting ~15 minutes between coats. The next day level out with 0000 steel wool and a good application of paste wax . I've had some 'corning" problems when using sandpaper on shellac finishes. 0000 steel wool works much better for me.
I LOVE shellac and it is a rare ocassion when it is not in the schedule at least as a seal / bridge coat and is often my topcoat of choice. I also love the look of a French Polished piece so I tend to use that method whenever I get a chance. When not doing French Polish, I spray it through an HVLP conversion setup and it goes down like butter and rubs out nicely to pretty much any sheen that you want. I mix my own from flakes that I buy from Jeff at Homesteadfinishing. For bridge coat I tend to use a 1# cut and a 2$ for most other things.
Another great benefit of it is repairability. If you end up really botching something (of course I never end up doing this
) it is easily repaired or completely stripped and you are back to your starting point in most cases.
Another great benefit of it is repairability. If you end up really botching something (of course I never end up doing this
) it is easily repaired or completely stripped and you are back to your starting point in most cases.