Black shellac a ybody?

[Dengue]

Has anyone ever come across genuinely black shellac? Looking for some to apply to an Indian Ink finish to protect the finish

[aussiepens]

Perhaps add black pigment to shellac

John

[auscab]

Spirit Black and add a touch of Bismarck Brown which is a red colour . The touch of red sends it from a blue black to a jet black . Being spirit colours it stays 100 % liquid unlike Black oxide pigment which leaves it with the body of the pigment and more opaque.

[BFDACT]

You can colour up your shellac using Feast Watson's Prooftints as well. The black will vary depending on the shellac you're using - a bleached or blonde shellac with black Prooftint will be toward a blue, but garnet or ruby shellac will give you a warmer black.

Nigrosine which is alcohol soluble gives the truest traditional black - used on grand pianos. But I don't know if anyone stocks it in Australia any longer.

[Mobyturns]

You can colour up your shellac using Feast Watson's Prooftints as well. The black will vary depending on the shellac you're using - a bleached or blonde shellac with black Prooftint will be toward a blue, but garnet or ruby shellac will give you a warmer black.

Nigrosine which is alcohol soluble gives the truest traditional black - used on grand pianos. But I don't know if anyone stocks it in Australia any longer.

Very interesting, very commonly used too. Nigrosine|Nigrosin|Nigrosine Black|Solvent Black 5|Solvent Black 7|Acid Black 2|Pigment Black 1 (epsilonpigments.com)

Seems it's still available in Oz.

Dyes-Aniline Powder : Dye, Aniline, Powder, SPIRIT (ALCOHOL) Soluble, Black, (thewoodworks.com.au)

[BFDACT]

Mobyturns if you're going to try nigrosine, you'll need to dissolve it in denatured alcohol first, strain it through a disposable paint filters as you add it to your shellac, and I'd filter the shellac again before use. And a little goes a loooonnnnng way.

Any particles that haven't dissolved, and there will a bit, are removed before you try and rubber it on. Otherwise it's streaky and gritty. Not a good outcome.

Also this definitely works best using a rubber. It's difficult to get a decent flat finish using brushes. And you can use oil and pumice with nigrosine black shellac if you're after a fully chocked mirror finish.

If your Indian ink is also alcohol based, put a few wash coats of clear shellac over it first. Then go to town with the black shellac.

There is also a restorer's trick of smashing and dissolving 78s in alcohol - they were made of shellac and the colour you get is a dirty green black that is used to colour match when restoring. Though I suspect you'd struggle to find 78s for a price you'd then take to them with a hammer...

[auscab]

I just spoon a few scoops of spirit black into a jar and cover with metho. The sediment settles to the bottom and the jar lasts a year or more with me taking what I need out as it’s used .

[Mobyturns]

More a curiosity and learning thing for me. Thankyou both for sharing your wealth of knowledge and experience.

About the only thing I might, and it's a remote might, try it on is to ebonize finials in wood turning. Though QLD Maple ebonizes very well with the traditional ebonizing solution.