Hardened Shellac.

[Dylan SJ]

Hi. I'm planning to finish a table top in U-Beaut hardened shellac and traditional wax but have a few concerns.
The hard shellac instructions recommend applying a first coat of regular shellac. Does it matter if it's dewaxed or not? How many coats of hard shellac should go on too?
Should I wait 20 days for the shellac to harden before sanding and applying the wax or can I do it as soon as it dries?
Also, is high humidity going to effect the shellac finish? It's pretty muggy in Melbourne this weekend.

Sorry about all the questions!
Dylan

[ubeaut]

G'day Dylan - You have dewaxed white shellac so it is best if you use dewaxed shellac underneath otherwise there may be a different movement in the two finishes if you use a waxy shellac.

However you don't necessarily need to put down a base coat. The idea of it is to stop the hard shellac from keying to the timber thus making it easier to strip at a later date should the piece be damaged. I recommend this for polyurethane as well.

You can sand as soon as the surface is dry there is no need to wait. Treat it as you would any other shellac. The number of coats is up to you. There is no hard and fast rule. When you are happy with the finish you have achieved, stop.

The humidity could be a problem this weekend, there is nothing that metho likes more than to soak up a bit of moisture, so bloom could be a bit of a problem. However if you are brushing it on or applying it with a rubber then it shouldn't be too much
of a problem. I wouldn't be spraying it though.

Hope this is of help.

cheers - Neil

PS if you are brushing it on get yourself a really good natural hair brush or you will be wasting your time. (Camel hair, sable, skunk, are all good brushes. Go to an art supply shop and ask for a watercolour mop 1" or bigger.)

[This message has been edited by ubeaut (edited 22 February 2003).]

[Dylan SJ]

Thanks for your advise Neil. I followed it as close as I could and am very happy with the results.