Replies

1. 
   user-83153 | Feb 12, 2008 01:23am | #1

   CJ,

   Is the blanket chest made from cedar? Cedar releases chemicals that will plasticize lacquer and possibly some waterborne finishes. If it is anything but cedar you should be able to use a waterborne finish on the interior.

   I find it hard to believe that anyone could smell DNA for weeks even if the piece was hermetically sealed. You could dump a gallon of the stuff on the ground and it would evaporate in an hour or two. Once the DNA evaporates and the smell is allowed to dissipate there won't be anymore smell. Shellac itself has no smell that I am aware of.

                     Rob

2. 
   JohnWW | Feb 12, 2008 02:05am | #2

   I suspect that your shellac was contaminated or there was something in the wood or a finish under the shellac that caused the odor. Could you provide details?

   John W.

1. 
   seajai | Feb 12, 2008 02:15am | #3

   The piece I made was oak with a light colored oil base stain, then covered in 2 or 3 coats of shellac. I'm not 100% sure, but I think I  got it from home depot.

    The blanket chest I am currently building is made from sapele with MDF panels veneered in flame birch on the exterior and poplar on the interior.

   Edited 2/11/2008 6:18 pm by seajai

1. 
   JohnWW | Feb 12, 2008 02:44am | #4

   The oil stain was applied to the inside? If it was, it was the oil not the shellac's fault for the lingering odor. Shellac will seal in smells to some degree, but the fresh oil under the shellac overwhelmed the shellac's sealing ability. Apply shellac only to the interior or use water based stains first, but nothing with a lingering odor.John W.

1. 
   seajai | Feb 12, 2008 07:34am | #5

   John, the last time I used shellac was also the very first time I used it. The source of my odor was probably the oil based stain and not the shellac. So, if I read it right, only waterbased stains should be used under shellac? Which brand of stain would you recommend? 

   The blanket chest I am currently building is from FWW #129 by John McAlevey. I veneered my panels with flame birch outside and poplar inside. I would like to darken the poplar to a tone that is close to the sapele I used for the frame. What do you think would best, water based stain or paint? The article said something about odorless milk paint but I have never worked with anything like that. If I painted the panels inside, could I then seal over everything inside or would I have to just seal the frame and stay away from the painted panels?  I am using general finishes seal-a-cell and arm-r-seal for the outside of the chest.

   thanks for your help

   chris 

1. 
   SteveSchoene | Feb 12, 2008 03:24pm | #6

   In general, oil based stains work fine under shellac, though in this case you have discovered the exception--in inclosed areas the lingering odor from the oil-based material. 

   Poplar isn't a wood that takes pigmented stain very well--it wants to blotch.  If you want to darken it, an aniline dye would be the way to go.  If you did want to paint, using milk paint would be a good choice as far as lingering odor.  You would still want to cover the milk paint with a coat of shellac--otherwise it is a bit "powdery" on the surface for a while and that wouldn't be a good thing for blankets.   

   Frankly, the inside of chests isn't something I would want to do much with.  A couple of coats of shellac to give a smooth splinter free surface is about all.  It's the outside that matters--when you open it its about the blankets.

    

3. 
   frenchy | Feb 12, 2008 05:39pm | #7

   seajai,

     Then it wasn't shellac!

        That's one of the nice things about shellac.. I can shellac a floor using gallons of the stuff in the morning and by noon my hypersensitive wife can't detect a wiff of it!

      I once shellaced timbers a couple of hours before she came home and she never noticed it untill I pointed it out..