Shellac question

[smorris]

I'm in the home stretch of my sons cherry barrister bookcase project. I'm at the finishing stage and am wondering what advantage there may be to mixing my own shellac to spray vs. using Zinsser sealcoat. The finish schedule to date is washcoat of Zinsser sealcoat (cut 1:1), scuff sand (320) then apply BLO. That did a good job preventing blotches. Now the plan it to spray on a couple coats of shellac and in doing some reading, some recommend mixing your own due to additives in Zinsser but others so to just spray sealcoat. Is there any true advantage in mixing my own?

[woodturner]

Is there any true advantage in mixing my own?

The biggest advantages, IMHO, to mixing your own is that you know it is fresh and thus will fully harden, and you can mix it with pure alcohol and not have to breathe the poisonous chemicals.

Shellac is also easily applied with a brush or rag - spraying isn't really necessary to get a good finish.

[JR]

There's also the question of the kind of color you want acheive. Different types of shellac impart different tints.

JR

[Skaning]

The biggest advantage is color. The premixed stuff comes in orange and clear and the clear isn't all that clear. With the flakes you can get a color from almost red to a really clear finish. I've used the mixed stuff a lot because I was doing a knotty pine wall and the premix orange was OK for what I needed. But, I cut it two parts alcohol to 1 part premix to get a 1 pound cut. Much preferred applying the thinner coat than the 3 pound cut of the premix. I felt it penetrated the wood more and gave me a little more color control.

[smorris]

Thanks for the info. I want to spray just because there are 4 carcasses and they are fairly large. Brushing on would be a real chore and since I have an HVLP rig it seemed a natural to spray.

The finish I want is clear, so blond or super blond. I think I'll just go ahead and order some flake to eliminate the expiration date issue and I can get super blond before I'm ready to spray as I have to wait for the humidity to drop when a cold front comes through. From what I read I'll need a couple days to dissolve and another day to practice and fine tune the mix.

[woodturner]

From what I read I'll need a couple days to dissolve and another day to practice and fine tune the mix.

If you need it ready sooner, agitation increases the rate of dissolving. Put it in a blender and you can have it ready in minutes (until SWMBO finds out )

[cabinetman]

Here's some info on shellac.

.

[smorris]

If you need it ready sooner, agitation increases the rate of dissolving. Put it in a blender and you can have it ready in minutes (until SWMBO finds out )

Ummm, SWMBO caught we using her mixer once to mix up a large batch of DAP resin glue. I would advise anyone contemplating such a course of action to reconsider.

[Cochese]

For those of us who need pretty pictures:

http://americanwoodworker.com/blogs/...2/shellac.aspx

[gsmittle]

If you need it ready sooner, agitation increases the rate of dissolving. Put it in a blender and you can have it ready in minutes (until SWMBO finds out )

Grinding the flakes in a coffee grinder helps the dissolve time too. Just make sure you use a dedicated cheapie grinder instead of LOYL's.

g.