wrote in message
oups.com...
I'm trying to use Shellac flakes for the second time and am having some
trouble. The first time I used it they dissovled after about three days
without much fuss, but this go-round I've got a big blob of gelatin at
the bottom of my bottle that I can't get to dissolve. Here are the
facts of the case:

* Bought blonde dewaxed shellac from Woodcraft on Thursday
* About an hour later, I smashed it to smithereens with a hammer and
added it to brand new alcohol (in a well sealed plastic bottle, also
from Woodcraft) in a 2# cut
* I tried adding it to the alcohol slowly and letting it dissolve, but
it just sat at the bottom and stared at me desipte repeated stirrings,
so I dumped it all in.
* The bottle is a very well sealed glass jar with a rubber grommet and
a metal latch - no chance of moisture getting in that I can see.
* I put the bottle in a bath of warm water to speed the reaction
* Come back four days later, and there's goopy shellac gelatin on the
bottom, maybe about a quarter of the original volume, undissolved. I've
spent the last couple hours breaking it up, warming it, shaking it, and
repeating, and it's still just gelatin--the undissolved portion hasn't
changed much.


I mix my own in small batches, and I use the see it shake it method. I make
in the morning, shake every time I can, and it's dissolved by afternoon.

Two things you can do to hurt your chances are decrease the surface area
actually exposed to alcohol by making a bunch of small grains and allowing
the to clump to form, and attempting a two or three pound cut direct, rather
than adding flakes to a made one-pound. Try larger pieces and one-pound, to
be enriched later.