how much shelac?

[RobTro]

I have a desk top that has a a very thin veneer of walnut and looking at finishes.

Was thinking of oil finish and then orange shelac over that.

Sound OK? Any other recomendations for good finish?

How mush shelac flakes do I need? How much does 100g of flakes cover?

Not used shelac before so an y advice....

thanks

Rob

[ian]

How mush shelac flakes do I need? How much does 100g of flakes cover?

Not used shelac before so an y advice....

thanks

Rob

Hi Rob
I think you will find all your answer in this A Polishers Handbook

[Horsecroft88]

Hi Rob, and with all respect, Ian's advice is sound as Neil is definitely a fountain of experience and knowledge, (let alone our benevolant moderator of the forum etc) and if you were to obtain a copy of his book, I am sure you could learn a lot about finishing from it.

However, to give perhaps a little practical advice if I may, just a few quick points for your consideration, which may also help answer your questions.

In the first instance, and based on your comments re wanting to use shellac, to finish off your desk top, by all means an oil based product would be fine to use and should be ok prior to application of shellac. But if I may, I am wondering why you might wish in the first instance to apply an oil finish. I assume by this you are meaning products perhaps such as tung oil, linseed oil, danish oil or whatever, rather than something like a poly product or even the commercially available Tung oil/poly mixes. The reason i ask that is because applying a shellac coating over the latter sorts of products wouldn't be all that beneficial. And in truth, applying shellac to a cleaned surface (I am assuming the desk is not new and has been cleaned back ready for a new finish), should be fine without requiring a oil based pre-coat.

Mind you if you wanted a darker colour to the overall finish to the walnut veneer, then perhaps use of an oil based pre-coat could be helpful.

I could go into describing how to mix/apply shellac, and it is actually a very straight forward process to apply, but rather than repeating myself, if I can make a suggestion, hop over to the Restoration section of this forum and have a look at both my last thread (advice needed for some new projects, or alternatively Lawry's thread regarding restoring an English Oak desk). The reason I suggest this is because in each thread the process of how to mix, apply and work with shellac is described in much detail there. Including progress photos. Looking at this might just save you some time, plus help in re-assuring you as to how relatively easy this can be.

You can buy pre-mixed shellac, in relatively small bottles, I think say around the 250L mark from Bunnings/Mitre 10 etc, or alternatively and definitely more economical buy a bag or container of shellac and a container of Metho and mix your own.

Hope that helps a little.

[Antipodes]

Are you actually based in Japan? They invented lacquering with shellac (OK, the Chinese did but the Japanese did a great job ripping them off). You should be up to your neck in product and expertise.

[antiphile]

I have a desk top that has a a very thin veneer of walnut and looking at finishes.

Was thinking of oil finish and then orange shelac over that.

Sound OK? Any other recomendations for good finish?

How mush shelac flakes do I need? How much does 100g of flakes cover?

Not used shelac before so an y advice....

thanks

Rob

Hi Rob

I had better get the "cover my ass" stuff out of the way first. Although I have discovered I just love using shellac for sealing as well as finishing, I am certainly not an expert in any way, and I would trust other people's opinions before mine.

Using a 2# cut (2 pound cut), 100 g of flakes needs 445 ml of denatured alcohol or methylated spirits. In my experience, this would go close to finishing 1 square metre depending on how many coats you would like to apply.

Hope that gives you an approximate idea.

Cheers
Phil