Barry and all have provided great info about finishing my red oak craftsman
style bed. I have one small area of confusion remaining. . I'm going to stain
with an Olympic brand oil based stain and final finish will be with coats of
wiped on Waterlox Original. In previous informational posts mention is made
of sealing the stain coat with a 1 or 2 pound cut shellac Do I need or want to
do this with the combination of finishing products I have selected? Would
anything be gained by using it even if not necessary. Would it improve the end
products appearance? Thanks again to all who have assisted with their valuable
time. Happy Holidays to all.
Mike in Arkansas

"Mike in Arkansas" wrote in message
...
Barry and all have provided great info about finishing my red oak
craftsman
style bed. I have one small area of confusion remaining. . I'm going to
stain
with an Olympic brand oil based stain and final finish will be with coats
of
wiped on Waterlox Original. In previous informational posts mention is
made
of sealing the stain coat with a 1 or 2 pound cut shellac Do I need or
want to
do this with the combination of finishing products I have selected? Would
anything be gained by using it even if not necessary. Would it improve
the end
products appearance? Thanks again to all who have assisted with their
valuable
time. Happy Holidays to all.
Mike in Arkansas

Oil finish over oil stain will move it around a bit, thus the seal coat with
shellac. You're using a low- solids finish, so you'll appreciate the way
the seal coat cuts down on pigment movement.

thus the seal coat with
shellac.

Thanks George, I can understand wanting to prevent interaction with the stain.
Perhaps I'm mistaken but I thought that part of the advangtage of an oil
finish was that it penatrates the wood. If shellac is used to seal will the
finish coats just sit on top of the shellac?
Mike in Arkansas

"Mike in Arkansas" wrote in message
...
thus the seal coat with
shellac.

Thanks George, I can understand wanting to prevent interaction with the
stain.
Perhaps I'm mistaken but I thought that part of the advangtage of an oil
finish was that it penatrates the wood. If shellac is used to seal will
the
finish coats just sit on top of the shellac?
Mike in Arkansas

Somewhat. The shellac is pretty thin at a 1# cut, so it doesn't form a
continuous film. It also uses (polar) alcohol as a solvent, so it'll get
sucked into the fibers where water binds, rather than between the fibers
like nonpolar oil or thinner. You'll notice that there will be some mild
grain raising with the alcohol to confirm this. Knock it down with 320 or
400 and tack off prior to oil.