Tinting Shellac

[Wade Holloway]

I have a large hand tool cabinet that I am almost finished with. It will hang on the wall behind my workbench next to a really nice pine cabinet that I built a few years ago. I plan to put a few coats of shellac my tool cabinet. The cabinet is built out of Baltic Birch with Yellow Pine accents on the doors and the outside edge of all of the shelves. I would like to give the cabinet a little Amber tint to blend in with the pint cabinet beside it. So my question is can I put a drop or two of Honey Trans Tint in the shellac? Not sure if you can tint shellac or not. Don't think I want to get into staining it after all it is still just a tool cabinet. Just thought a little Amber color would look good since the pine is aging so nice. Any thoughts? Thanks for any help in advance!

[John TenEyck]

Yes, absolutely. Transtint dye is soluble in water and alcohol. I make shellac toners with Transtint all the time, any color I happen to need. You may need a lot more than a drop or two to get much color. Make some small specimens on scrap to figure out how much to add.

John

[Wade Holloway]

Thanks John I appreciate the guidance.

[Stan Calow]

I've added transtint to shellac - no issues. But have you considered a naturally darker shellac - amber, orange or garnet? I assume you're using canned shellac, but you can get the flakes in naturally darker shades.