Hello all.
I have been using shellac for a while now and the most tricky part of
shellac for me is its preparation.
I used to mix the total amount of shellac flakes and denatured alcohol
togheder and wait for the mix to be ready and this seldom happened,
sometimes I got a transparent solution and sometimes I got a suspension
with the flakes floating in alcohol and I knew of no way to make it
transparent from there. Using filter paper from chemystry supplyes did
not yeld a clear transparent liquid, filtering is slow due the shellac
clogging the filter paper pores so I dropped that. I dont know how to
precipitate it. After using some shellac in this condition the restant
part, mostly shellac flakes, dried after a good while and formed a
sticky goo in the flask.

Later I came up with this method:
Cover the flakes with denatured alcohol, but using a part of alcohol in
the cut(just to cover the flakes in alcohol), and wait for a day of so
Then I pour the rest of the alcohol carefully to the dissolving flakes.
I used a syringe with a needle to do so and I sprayed the alcohol on
the flasks walls so by the time the alcohol touched the solution it
would not stirr and just deposit itself of the top, making a visible
layer of clear alcohol on top of the already dissolving flakes. After
using the rest of alcohol I let it sit overnight to let it to get in a
homogeneous transparent solution.


With this method I could get a very transparent shellac cut. I used a
syringe to remove the top layer of shellac, leaving the dissolved
flakes undisturbed. Sometimes I poured more alcohol with the syringe
and I guess the flakes keep releasing more shellac. After I gathered
all the transparent liquid, I just leave the flask with the dissolved
flakes on the shelf and after a month of so the alcohol evapored
leaving a brown cake on the bottom, the texture of the cake is gum
like, easyly removable from the flask and like a soft gum to the touch
but not sticky.


So this is it. I browsed the web for a method to prepare shellac cut
and the actual preparation was often omited, going straight to the
application part.

I wonder if this method of preparation is allright?
How do you prepare your shellac?

Konstantin.