Shellac as a sealer

[DangerousR6]

Hey Doug,
didn't you use this method for grainfilling???

http://www.hardwoodlumberandmore.com/Hardwood/Finishing/Shellac/GrainFillingWithShellac.html

did it work? and did it take a long time?

On my cherry tele, it already had several coats of shellac on it when i got it. I did some level sanding with 320 and a few more coats of spray on shellac, followed by a bit more sanding. Then onto the semi gloss clear nitro.

With Krank n stein and spalty, I did the slurry method, but with the Danish oil...

 

[-CB-]

remember, you can dilute the shellac, get better "penetration" of the color that way and also avoid buildup in case you're using another finish over it

 

[DangerousR6]

they use beetle shells in food coloring and such all the time.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carmine

Brian

Oh, that's just lovely to know. All this time I've been eating processed bug guts and parts....I'll never eat another red skittle again, at least without thinking of the little buggers in it.... :doh:

 

[TomK]

If you want to use Shellac as a sealer and intend to do a top coat then DO NOT use waxed shellac.  Zinnzer bulls eye has wax, Zinnzer "Seal Coat" IS de-waxed shellac and has a fairly long shelf life.  Zinnzer seal coat is fairly clear with a slight amber tint.  If you doing a neck and want a vintage aged look then you can put aniline dye that dissolves in alcohol in it.  A nice amber or even a mild amount of yellow works nice.  You can use Behlen brand powder for this but first dissolve the powder in some de-natured alcohol first before adding it to the shellac. 

As a grain filler it works but on ash you would need to do many coats and then sand back to almost removing to the wood to have the grain filled and not a lot of shellac build up on the finish. 

I really like shellac under a water based finish coat.  To my eye it blends the somewhat plastic look of a water based finish into the wood and make it look more like a nitro finish. 

Good Luck !

 

[-CB-]

Tom,

FWIW, I've used the Bullseye plain ol amber or clear under all kinds of nitro, with never a problem.  Nothing special done.  I even used it over nitro, over decal, and under more nitro - that is - to seal the decal from the overlaying nitro which has a bad habit of turning decals into wrinkled messes.  I agree though, that if you're just using a seal coat... why not used the dewaxed.

 

[TomK]

I guess I had read that the waxed Bulls-eye "could" cause problems with top coats adhering to it so I went straight to the Sealcoat.  The nice thing about the regular Bulls-eye is that you can get it in a slight yellow or slight Amber without having to add dye.  Its good to know it will work ok, thanks

 

[-CB-]

Yupper, and it cuts just fine too, doesn't lose anything in the process