Replies

1. 
   SgianDubh | Jul 01, 2004 12:44pm | #1

   You can, with certain proviso's. You can also tint varnish with oil or spirit(alcohol) soluble dye(s) or adjust the colour of either with soluble pigments such as universal tinting colours (UTC's)

   What you up to there Frank? Give us a clue, ha, ha. Slainte.

   RJFurniture

1. 
   Biscardi | Jul 01, 2004 04:36pm | #2

   I am building a little rubbishy cabinet for the TV and stereo. It is a reproduction of a TV cabinet that Chippendale listed in his Director (Ha,Ha!).  

   At first I was going to spray it with lacquer. I actually sprayed the inside and the plinth. Now I have changed my mind and want to try the tinted shellac. I stripped the plinth, but stripping the interior would be a big bother. Can I just brush shellac over it. I seem to recall people telling me it was possible, but I read something contrary to that in a very old finishing book.

   Thanks

   Frank

1. 
   SgianDubh | Jul 01, 2004 10:14pm | #3

   I like the Chippendale TV cabinet idea, Frank-- and straight out of his book too. I must check my copy. I missed it, ha, ha.

   Shellac is a versatile finish. Tolerant more than just about any other film finishes of less than perfect bases-- oil grease, dirt, silicone, etc.. As long as your lacquer sprayed interior is cured then shellac should adhere without problems perhaps after a light sanding down. Test a small area first of course before committing yourself fully.

   You know the lacquer is cured when you can't smell it any more- same with varnish too, which you mentioned in your first post. There again if the inside of your cabinet is already lacquered and cured, do you need to shellac over the top? I can't see any particular reason for this, unless I'm missing something.

   Of all the shellacs a dewaxed shellac is generally the safest to use as a barrier coat, or in your case a final coat. Dewaxed shellac is most commonly sold as super blonde in the US, and Zinnser sell SealCoat which has been developed specifically for jobs like you describe, and can be used as a polish in its own right.

   I use dewaxed shellac sometimes as a barrier if I'm suspicious of what might be underneath. It could be a repair job where I suspect silicone presence, or I'll use it as a first coat over oily woods like teak. After this I feel pretty safe using almost any other film forming polish such as varnish, pre-cat lacquer, conversion varnish, more shellac, etc..

   Dewaxed shellac forms the hardest (most brittle) film and resists moisture better than waxier forms. The waxier forms can cause some following film finishes adhesion problems, e.g., some of the water based varnishes aren't keen on contaminants like the wax in less pure shellacs like garnet polish.

   Anyway, for the outside experimentation you want to do you can mix aniline dyes with shellac to adjust colour-- just use spirit (alcohol) soluble anilines. UTC's as I mentioned earlier can be used to adjust colour too. You don't mention dyeing or staining your wood before polishing. Do you plan to? Slainte.RJFurniture

1. 
   Biscardi | Jul 02, 2004 06:06am | #4

   Richard,

   Thanks as always.

   The inside was sprayed about three months ago. I will scuff it up a bit with some 320 grit paper.I thought about tinted shellac inside because I wanted the interior finsh to be closer to the outside.

   The piece is Cherry. I planed to put BLO on it, coat it with Superblonde and then use alcohol soulable aniline tinted orange shellac to  brush/ pad with.  I may  or may not spray some lacquer on it afterward and then rub it with wax/steel wool. I only have lacquer in aerosol cans- don't know if I want to do that.

   If you really want to do a home enterainment center, I'd look really look  hard at Brothers Adam- love those urns! HaHa!

   Frank

1. 
   SgianDubh | Jul 02, 2004 01:10pm | #5

   Cherry as I'm sure you know Frank will develop a beautiful colour all on its own--- given time. No harm in experimenting though.

   Before you commit yourself to a particular routine work up a good size offcut and play about with it. I'd say a piece about a foot or more square would be good enough. I suspect you already know this.

   You can also leave the unfinished cherry exposed to air and some sunlight for a few days which will kick off the darkening process quite well. Slainte.RJFurniture

2. 
   Biscardi | Jul 02, 2004 01:55pm | #6

   Richard,

   As you say, it often does quite well without much done to it. I usually just use orange shellac.

   Thought I'd play around a bit as it is hardly a museum piece. Thanks again for your help.

   Frank

3. 
   Biscardi | Jul 06, 2004 05:27am | #7

   Richard,

   I screwed around with the aniline dye in the shellac on some scraps. I think it rather opacified the finish.

   I used some mahoghany tinted shellac to do a little end table I found in a yard sale. It evened out the finish. Ths seems like a good technique for repair work and matching pieces.

   I put some boiled linseed over the cherry project. It had been sanded a few months ago and sat in the window of the shop.It was gorgeous. I will just slop some orange shellac over it and leave it at that.

   Thanks,

   Frank

4. 
   SgianDubh | Jul 06, 2004 09:53am | #8

   That is the tendency of tinted polishes, Frank-- they eventually obscure the grain. As you found, they become rather opaque.

   Similarly, multiple coats of a satin or matte polish, such as satin varnish or satin nitrocellulose lacquer will tend to occlude the grain due to the light breaking effect of the silica in the product. Use multiple coats of gloss and put a final coat on of the desired sheen, or use gloss all the way and rub out to the desired sheen.

   I prefer the former. I'm not a fan of rubbing out polishes-- it eats into my time and increases the charge to the punter, ha, ha. Slainte.RJFurniture

2. 
   KStrick | Jul 08, 2004 01:28am | #9

   Thought I might add my two sense. I have used shellac based glazes and found that aniline being prone to fading in the light became even more so when used as a glaze. Tints in general are more light fast.