eclipsme wrote:
I have never used shellac. I have used lacquer, varnish, polyurethane -
both oil-based and water, danish oil, tung oil, mineral oil, but never
shellac.

I have read that shellac will bring out the grain and depth of woods
like cherry and walnut when used as a first coat. Is this true? What is
the procedure? Can I/should I do this with cherry cabinets? Can I do it
with water-based poly as the top coats? Is this a good idea?

There was an article in FWW a month or so ago comparing oil, oil-based
varnish, and shellac for accentuating figure. While this one article
is certainly not the be-all, end-all scientific measure, the author's
conclusion was that oil (and oil-based varnish) popped the grain more,
shellac brought out more chatoyance, more subtlety.

I've used it and like it. It has a tendency to scratch a little more
easily than many finishes, but it is the most reparable of them all,
with the possible exception of oil.

You can use absolutely use *de-waxed* shellac under water-based
poly...shellac is the best seal coat there is, and very commonly used
as an in-between coat to keep incompatible finishes from fighting. But
remember, if it doesn't *say* de-waxed, it isn't.