On Sun, 28 Dec 2008 23:52:14 -0600, Douglas R. Hortvet, Jr. wrote:


Bought the shellac and spray lacquer this afternoon.

The shellac is by Zinsser and is 3 lb cut - so must thin to get to a 2
lb cut as suggested by Otoe.


Doug, that sounds like the stuff with wax in it. OK by itself, but not
good if you're going to put anything else on top of it. Also not as
water resistant.

What you probably should have gotten was Zinsser's SealCoat. It's sold
as a sanding sealer, but it's a 2 pound cut of dewaxed shellac.

If you have the patience, you can let what you have sit for a week or two
and the wax will settle to the bottom and you can carefully pour off
about a half can of dewaxed. Then thin as desired.




You mention letting the shellac coats sit for several days - although
the can says re-coat in an hour. Rather imagine that is the VOE
speaking i.e., Voice of Experience.


Shellac will dry to the touch almost instantly for the first few thin
coats and I've never had to wait more than an hour to recoat unless the
weather is very cold and damp.

But that doesn't mean it's cured. If you try to sand it (lightly! or
you'll melt it!) without waiting at least a week you'll get little gummy
balls of shellac all over your sandpaper.

A very experienced woodworking friend of mine claims that shellac never
quits getting harder. My experience with old furniture seems to support
that.

--
It's turtles, all the way down