Questions about dewaxed shellac sanding sealer & different colored shellacs

[scott vroom]

I've been using Zinsser BullsEye clear dewaxed shellac lately as a sanding sealer. It's a 2lb cut and I pay $17 for a quart. I always question the age when I buy it, and the quality of the shellac used. My question: What are some good alternatives for clear dewaxed flakes to mix my own sealer?

Changing subjects a bit, I'm fairly new to shellac finishing and am considering a garnet dewaxed for some cherry furniture and knotty alder kitchen cabinets I'm building. Seems a lot of folks like the warm amber tone on both of those species. I was looking at WellerMart dewaxed garnet, based on the reviews it seems to be good quality. Any other makers I might want to consider for a top quality dewaxed garnet?

I noticed that WellerMart also sells a dewaxed ruby and a waxed orange. Are there particular wood species that these two match well with? Probably a hard answer to get consensus on, really just looking for opinions.

Thank you.

[John TenEyck]

I've never had a problem with Sealcoat shellac drying/curing properly, and I think I've used at least 50 gals of the stuff over the years. I have had two cans spring a leak from corrosion but that's a different story. I know people like to buy flakes and mix their own but I see no need, no benefit, but I do see higher cost. So I keep using SealCoat. When I want shellac with color I add Transtint dye to SealCoat. You can get nearly any color you can think of, in any hue. One product, endless possibilities.

John

[Stan Calow]

". . . dewaxed ruby and a waxed orange. Are there particular wood species that these two match well with?"

IMO, walnut looks good in darker shellacs. Not an original thought.

[Paul F Franklin]

FWIW, I've bought dewaxed shellac flakes, mostly garnet, from shellac shack quite a few times. The quality has been good and shipping fast. They offer sample packs of 4 colors (your choice) that I found handy for experimenting with the various colors. I personally am a fan of a coat or two of 1 1/2 lb cut garnet on cherry before topcoating with something else. If I were using a lot of it, I'd probably go the sealcoat/tint route that John mentioned as it is a bit of fuss to weigh the flakes, grind them, mix them, wait for them to dissolve and strain before application.

[scott vroom]

I've never had a problem with Sealcoat shellac drying/curing properly, and I think I've used at least 50 gals of the stuff over the years. I have had two cans spring a leak from corrosion but that's a different story. I know people like to buy flakes and mix their own but I see no need, no benefit, but I do see higher cost. So I keep using SealCoat. When I want shellac with color I add Transtint dye to SealCoat. You can get nearly any color you can think of, in any hue. One product, endless possibilities.

John

Makes sense on the sealcoat, John. On the transtint, have you come up with a recipe that emulates garnet shellac?

[Michael Cuthriell]

I use WellerMart super blonde almost exclusively for finishing and dewaxed orange for shop tools, etc. They ship quickly.

[John TenEyck]

Makes sense on the sealcoat, John. On the transtint, have you come up with a recipe that emulates garnet shellac?

I haven't ever tried to get an exact match to garnet shellac. But looking at Homestead Finishing's website this is what the garnet shellac they sell looks like on maple. The top is 4 coats of a 2lb cut, the bottom is 2 coats.



Transtint Dark Vintage Maple or Honey Amber looks like a good place to start, perhaps a blend of the two. These samples from Homestead were made with 2 oz of dye in 1/2 gal of solvent (water?) on curly maple.



I almost never use Transtint at that high of a concentration, so I'd probably choose the Dark Vintage Maple first and then adjust the concentration to get the hue I wanted and dope it with Honey Amber or Yellow if I needed to shift it towards yellow, or Reddish Brown or Red if I need to shift it towards red.

John

[Rob Young]

Used Wellermart several times. Always had good luck with their dewaxed products. The only thing I've purchased from them but not yet tried is their button lac.

They've raised their free shipping cut-off over the years. I've always tried to coordinate a group order in my local woodworking club to take advantage of free shipping and the fact that the cost per oz drops quite a bit when you order multiple pounds of the stuff.

A quick browse on their site shows they now have dewaxed clear powedered shellac. Interesting.