Shellac questions - best way to fix this?

[Matt Meiser]

I applied orange shellac to the table I'm building last night. It really made the walnut veneer pop, but I have problems at the corners of the legs, top, etc. where some shellac went around the edge and dried before I got to it. I was trying to brush it. I let it dry a couple hours and went back and did some sanding which helped, but I still have some problematic areas. I also have some uneven areas on the top where I was going cross-grain on the edging. I then padded on more shellac which went better, but not perfect. I'm worried about building it up too thick before I spray it with USL.

I figure I have a few options--I can sand down the thick areas and re-pad them or I can sand the whole thing and try to reapply the shellac.

[tod evans]

matt, sand out your runs then spray on an even coat....02 tod

[Hal Flynt]

I use a cabinet scraper to shave runs and sags in shellac. I find that I have more control and it's faster.

[Steve Schoene]

What cut were you using? If you used Zinsser Amber shellac from the can it was probably 3 lb. cut, which is heavier than is usually comfortable. It can be thinned heavily. Two pound cut brushes well, or you can drop down to 1 1/2 lb. cut. Basically just add a good big dollop or two of denatured alcohol.

You may also want to check your brush. Best brush for shellac is a watercolor wash brush from artists supply places. The Taklon gold nylon bristles are very fine, and the brush doesn't have the large reservoir of a varnish brush so it makes it easy to apply very thin coats that don't have brush marks from the start.

[tod evans]

matt, if you decide to spray i thin premixed a little better than 50/50 depending on the age.. like hal says, if you have a scraper it`s lots faster than paper.....good luck, .02 tod