Prometheus wrote:

: For a gunstock? Remember the old tables that would get white rings
: when you set a glass with some condensation on them? That was
: shellac. Don't get me wrong, I really like the stuff, but I don't
: think I'd use it on something that had any reasonable chance of
: getting wet.


The white rings only occur with shellac that has a high wax content.
Dewaxed shellac is very water-resistant. One of the prominent finishers
and authors (I think it was Jeff Jewitt) did a test involving
leaving standing water on dewaxed shellac, and found zero water
penetration after 24 hours, IIRC.

-- Andy Barss