Replies

1. 
   MBerger | Nov 11, 2003 06:55pm | #1

   Try the Mike Dunbar approach: Milk paint with a Watco finish coat. He wrote an article on this in issue #136.

1. 
   andbiond | Nov 11, 2003 07:32pm | #2

   Thanks for the advice, I will look up the article!

   db

2. 
   mike4244 | Nov 12, 2003 07:05pm | #3

   If you like an antique pine finish you can use orange shellac. If you are brushing I would use a 1lb cut, easier to apply with less brush marks. You can add as many coats as you need to get as dark as wanted. Usually 4 or 5 coats if the shellac is cut to 1lb.Shellac dries quickly, you can finish the piece in a day, even five coats.

   As far as durability is concerned , shellac is very durable except on areas that may get alcohol spilled on it, such as a coffee table.A shellac finis is also easy to repair if ever needed. Check some of the finishing forums for more infomoration.

   mike

1. 
   Gretchen | Nov 12, 2003 11:31pm | #4

    shellac is very durable except on areas that may get alcohol spilled on it,

   It is also not at all water resistant so not a good top surface finish.Gretchen

1. 
   mike4244 | Nov 15, 2003 02:38am | #7

   Gretchen, shellac was used for floor finishes for many years, today there are more suitable varnish finishes for floors. I mention floors because they will see water every day it rains and someone walks in the house from outside. I have never seen water damage a shellac finish, only solvents such as alchohol mar the finish. In the old days housewives wet mopped shellac floors.

   mike

3. 
   Alan | Nov 13, 2003 03:43am | #5

   Dino,

   I'm with Mike:  shellac is easy to apply--any mistakes are easily fixed with more shellac or alcohol on a four-ought steel wool pad--and is plenty durable enough for your use.  Unlike most other finishes, shellac remains soluble, so no matter how many times you apply a "coat" you effectively wind up with just one "coat."  That one attribute eliminates many finishing worries.

   Because its solvent is alcohol, you can apply several coats in one day.  For a project like yours I would think five or six coats of a two pound cut wouldn't be too many.  I'd then let it sit for perhaps a week, and then rub it out with steel wool and paraffin oil.

   If shellac gets damaged, worn through, or gets a "bloom" from water, or gets "melted through" by some alcohol getting on it, there's none of the usual woes of other finishes.  Shellac is a snap to repair--once again, shellac or alcohol and a little steel wool will fix just about anything that goes wrong.  For me, that makes it ideal for two growing boys:  there's little they can do that will completely ruin it.

   Also, a good hard wax--like a carnuba and bees wax mix--works wonders AND makes it look great!  (I brew up my own wax.)  Of course wax isn't all that tough, but it does help.  It will often act like a barrier and contain any would-be damage wholly in the wax.  Any such "damage" isn't worthy of the name:  wax, of course, is even easier fixed than shellac. I apply my wax with a pad of 0000 steel wool.  This will almost always (actually, so far it is always) take care of any problems.

   You didn't say what wood you used, but if it's pine, fir, cherry or other blotch-prone wood, a good "spit coat" or "wash coat" of a one or even a one-half pound cut will go far to prevent the blotches.

   Alan

   p.s.,  I'm a big fan of shellac.  Can you tell?

   
   

   ---

   Edited 11/14/2003 7:08:22 PM ET by Alan

4. 
   hammer1 | Nov 13, 2003 04:42am | #6

   You may be able to improve the existing poly finish. Depending on what is wrong with it. Brush marks, runs etc. can be sanded out. 220 if used sparingly, work up to 400, buff with 0000 steel wool and apply a thin coat of paste wax. Should look like a million.