Shellac on End Grain

[Raymond Stanley]

As part of my trinket box project, I'm doing a raised panel top in pine, and thus have some endish (25 degrees angle from back) grain showing. I'm using shellac and have put on probably 10 coats on this end grain. Some parts of the end grain are showing as glossy as the long grain, and some are more "satin". Is this normal? Should I just keep on putting more coats on? At 2 coats per day with my finishing schedule, I'm running out of patience for finishing.
I appreciate the continued help from sawmill creek members - I couldn't be this far along without you!
Thanks-
Ray

[Ruston Hughes]

Raymond,

What cut are you using for your shellac? Are you sanding between coats?

A thicker cut with sanding in between should build the finish faster.

[Raymond Stanley]

Hi Ruston, I'm using a 1.5 lb cut and sanding with 320 grit paper between coats...should I be using a heavier cut? I'm using 1.5 lb cut because I am brushing it on, although in future projects I hope to give padding a try.

[Glenn Madsen]

I get MORE control when padding. And fewer edge lines.

[Roger Myers]

Also Ray, with Shellac, you can build much more than two coats per day... drying time between coats is 15-30 minutes at best, and no need to sand between each coat.... especially on your earlier coats where you are building the film thickness and filling pores...
Roger

[Steven Wilson]

Unless I want a seal coat of shellac, I generally use a 3lb cut for the initial coats using a brush and then switch to 1.5lb cut with a pad for the finish coats. I don't level sand until I get a build. You don't need to sand in between coats of shellac. New coats of shellac will melt into previous coats. You only need to scrape, sand, or razor to get rid of drips, runs, or level a finish. Keep applying shellac to the end grain until you get a build. If you're using a highly colored shellac you may want to switch to blonde (on the end grain) until you get build then switch back to your normal color.

[Tyler Purcell]

You might want to sand with a lower grit, believe it or not. An older woodworker once showed me how easy it is to "polish" your endgrain with anything more than 120 grit....

[Raymond Stanley]

Thanks everybody for the tips.

What happens if I start to see drips etc when building? Do I need to wait for it to dry enough to sand, or can I keep building until it is all a film, and then take out the drips?

Thanks again!

[glenn bradley]

Thanks everybody for the tips.

What happens if I start to see drips etc when building? Do I need to wait for it to dry enough to sand, or can I keep building until it is all a film, and then take out the drips?

Thanks again!

I would sand the drips or sags out before adding more coats. Otherwise you are just building over your problem. Where I am, shellac at that cut will dry to a sandable state in about an hour.

Watch your paper, if you get any blobs of shellac caught in the grit, pick it out with an awl or whatever; continueing to sand with these present will give poor results.

[Mark Stutz]

When building up the initial coats of shellac, I have used a card scraper to get rid of runs and sags, rather than sanding.

Mark

[Wilbur Pan]

Also Ray, with Shellac, you can build much more than two coats per day... drying time between coats is 15-30 minutes at best, and no need to sand between each coat.... especially on your earlier coats where you are building the film thickness and filling pores...
Roger

I'm not sure about Ray's schedule, but in my shop I can only get about two coats of shellac down in a day. Not because I don't know that shellac dries quickly, but because between getting home from work, quality time with SWMBO, getting the kids to bed, and other things, I only can squeeze in about 1 1/2 hours of shop time in the evening, if I'm lucky.

[Ruston Hughes]

I am also in the card scraper camp for removing drips/runs/bubbles from finishes. I feel like the scraper gives me more control over what is being removed than sandpaper.

I use 0000 steel wool prior to smooth the finish prior to the final coat.

[Eddie Darby]

Next time I would try sealing the end grain with pumice, which will disappear once the shellac is applied.

[Raymond Stanley]

Thanks for the continued advice everybody - I really appreciate it.

I got the shellac to build a film by just dumping it on there every 20 minutes or so - whatever the shortest time it took for my brush not to catch drag in the previous coat. I didn't worry about the dribbles that were building up, for the sake of time. When I went back to sand them out, I was just careful to try to rub down the high parts before getting to the rest of the film, which I tried to barely touch. Then I put a fresh coat on and everything came out even. One last coat on the whole thing and I'll be ready to rub it out!

Next time I'll have to try some of the tips offered by others here and other places - heavier cut, pumice, 25% liquid hide + hot water, etc.