Shellac help?

[Dan Forman]

I finished a pine shop table last night using dark garnet shellac in a 2# cut. This was my first use of shellac, and using a cloth pad to apply it, things got a bit sloppy at times. Is there a way to even out areas where two layers overlap creating darker areas? The problem areas are mostly near joints and corners in the legs and stretchers, the top and shelf came out ok.

It's not really hideous, and is just a shop table, but I am trying to work out my techique on these things so I will be in form for the good stuff. Next time I will try a brush, at least on the smaller surfaces.

Dan

[John Shuk]

I would try a rag with a little dentured alchol and rub the spot gently.

[Cecil Arnold]

As John says, you can try a rag dipped in alchol. The first coat of shellac is always a mess for me unless I spray it. The next coats usually go on smooth and start to look good. If you want to recoat, sand the rough places out and pad on another coat.

[Steve Schoene]

John is right--shellac is reversable and can be redissolved with shellac. At this point you don't have two layers, you have a thick place and a thin place. You can also sand the shellac and apply more light coats, being particularly sparing in places where is is now darker than you want.

To avoid in the future, make sure that when using a dark shellac, especially on a light wood, that you use a very light cut--perhaps 1 lb. for padding. Takes more coats, but they tend to average each other out. I often start with a darker shellac, such as garnet, but then shift to a blonde shellac when I've reached a dark enough tone. Gives a very rich look too.

[Dan Forman]

Actually, most of the offending spots are two layers, where some either dripped or smeared onto an area which had already dried. I found it very hard working with the cloth pad to keep from touching adjacent areas near the various cross pieces. Am I correct in assuming that the same strategy of introducing solvent to the darker areas will still work with two distinct layers?

Dan

[Steve Schoene]

Each application of shellac fuses itself into the existing shellac, thats why I say its just the same as a thicker spot, since it really is just one layer in the end. So, you can redissolve and redistribute the shellac, or sand or scrape the thick spots. The risk in redissolving is that you get a "rumpled" place where the shellac does not level well. If that hints at happening stop, let everything dry and shift to sanding/scraping.

Sounds to me like this particular piece would have been easier to coat evenly with a brush. Two pound cut brushes reasonably well as long as you move quickly, never go back, and use the right brush. Right for shellac means something like a flat water color wash brush. Windsor Newton Taklon Gold is one good brand, but any artists type wash brush with fine "bristles" similar to a sable brush should work.

[Dennis Peacock]

Dan,

In using Dark Garnet shellac, it's best to "approach" your final color depth slowly and methodicly. I've learned this from Jeff Jewitt and you really achieve a better finish and more even color contrast when you approach your final color instead of applying the shellac in a single to double coat. It takes more time to get there by the method I'm describing, but you'll be a lot happier with the overall color and evenness of color. Take your cotton rag and wad it up into a ball about 1-1/2" in size. Put enough DNA inside it to where it feels slightly dryer than a dog's nose....I know....but it's a mind picture that a lot of people can identify with. Tap the ball on the back of you hand for testing the wetness of the pad. If it's too wet, open it up and wave the rag in the air for a few seconds and then wad it back up and test again. Apply just a touch of the shellac to the pad and rub your darker areas with this pad. Work in small circles, about 3" diameter and then switch to a figure eight pattern, then switch to rubbing with the grain. This should even out your color some and will begin to feather in the darker areas with the other areas making it all look very close to the same color depth.

I use a 1-1/2 pound cut when padding shellac and no more. Mostly it's closer to a 1 pound cut. Your other options have already been covered, but I sure do like using shellac. Easy to apply, rub and get the look and feel I am after.

If you need a slower drying shellac? Homestead Finishing sells a DNA that is called something like Bekhol and it is a DNA but it dries slower than you standard DNA. Bekhol is a good one for padding and regular DNA is good for padding too. I've used both, and I like the Bekhol for spraying as it allows the shellac mix to lay down "wet" without loosing too much DNA in the mix during the spraying process.

Hope this helps some....and I hope I haven't confused you even more.

[Dan Forman]

Steve and Dennis---You pretty much hit the nail on the head when you said it would have been easier with a brush! Last night I went down and tried blending some of the darker areas with DNA as others suggested, but found that the color pretty much wanted to stay where it was. It seems like what ever gives the shellac it's color had really sunk into the wood like a stain or dye, couldn't be budged.

There were a coulple of surfaces that I had missed before, undersides of rails, and I went at those with a 1" synthetic watercolor brush and a 1# cut of the shellac, and found it much easier to maintain control than with the saturated rag I had used previously. Had I tried that to begin with, I think it would have come out fine. Lesson learned, better on this sort of functional piece than on something finer. Using the pad worked ok on the table top and shelf, but was the wrong thing to use for the legs and rails.

I may try some of the Bekhol next time I put in an order with someplace that carries it.

Using the brush and the lighter cut, I was able to even out some of the contrasting areas on the rest of the piece. At this point I'm not sure whether to try and fix it anymore or just use as is and try to do better next time. Thanks for all of your suggestions.

Dan