Help needed with shellac please

[Arron]

Hi. I'm on my first attempt at using shellac and things are not working out quite as expected. I would like a bit of advice about whether I am following the right method.

I recently went to Carbatec and bought some UBeaut French Polish and EEE cream. I'm brushing the shellac on. I'm trying to put a high gloss finish on a small box. This is what I have been doing.
1. sanding and sealing the timber
2. applying 2 coats of UBeaut French Polish, diluted a little, by brush.
3. sanding back lightly, mainly just to remove the worst of the lap marks
4. applying another couple of coats
5. sanding to get a smooth finish using 800, 1200, 1500 then 2000 grit
6. rubbing with eee cream (sorry, not sure of proper name but I exect you all recognise it).

The result is nice and smooth - feels good and looks Ok from a distance or square on, but when you get close or look a little side-on it becomes apparent that the finish is:
1. a little cloudy, perhaps due to 2. below.
2. there are fine scratches over the surface.
3. there is a pattern where I have sanded through the top coat in patches - it looks like the zigzag pattern on a human skull where the bones fuse together. I thought shellac was not supposed to do this.

I am thinking the scratches probably indicate that I should be using something after the 2000 grit but before the eee, but I dont know what it is. Any recommendations ?

I'm also noticing that the skull pattern may be related to the fact that it occurs on the surfaces where I polished the surface from 800 grit through to eee after the first two coats, then put the subsequent coats on top. Where I didnt do this, but just sanded back with a coarse grit (just enough to remove the lap marks) the skull pattern is absent. I'm not sure this is the reason because there were other differences in the treatment of the two areas. Can anyone advise ?

Finally, there is a remote chance that I am just not rubbing hard and long enough with the eee. Its a little difficult as I have RSI so cannot do a repetitive motion for long, so I am wondering if there might be some machine that will do the job without risk to the surface. I have a buffing machine as used for cars but its clumsy on a small timber box. I also have a large angle-grinder/polisher but its brutal.

thanks
Arron

[Wood Borer]

Neil is the expert but I don't think you are diluting the shellac sufficiently if you can see the overlaps.

Sturdee told me if you put some on your finger and thumb and rub them, they should start to stick a bit after 20 seconds.

Are you putting alternating coats of shellac and EEE? I always do my shellacing first and then use EEE. EEE is wax with a fine powder abrasive in it to polish whatever surface it is applied to and as such is not designed for use as a final coat.

Get one of Neil's mops which can go onto a bench grinder, a bench drill or even a hand held electric drill.

If you haven't got Neil's finishing book GET ONE.

[Sturdee]

Your problems are part of the long learning curve in french polishing. It took me a year of lessons at a neighbourhood house to learn how to do it.

This is what I learned.

1. after final scraping and sanding using a sealer is not necessary as this is normally a diluted form of shellac. Instead I first apply a spirit stain (self mixed) to bring back the natural wood colour after sanding.

2. I then apply 2 brushcoats of shellac.

3. after sufficient drying time I rub back with steel wool ( 0000 or 000 ) but do not use sandpaper. This should denib and remove any brush marks. If not sufficient drying time elapses you will get a bloom, being moisture between coats of shellac. Make sure your brushmarks and overlapping marks are fully removed else you will seal it in with subsequent coats.

3. I then start using a rubber to apply lots of thins coats, but in your case repeat steps 2 with even more diluted shellac and 3 until you are happy with the results. Your final rub back should not be with steelwool but with whiting powder or EEE wax.

4. Finally apply a good wax, Ubeaut Trad wax I can recommend.

Goodluck, don't give up as it takes a while, but the beauty of shellac is that you can rub and sand it back and start all over again if you're not happy with the results.



Peter.