Straight shellac as a stopper finish?

[sachbvn]

Hey guys - I was trying something new today. (Boodrow gave me some help/info - thanks!)

I used Bullseye wax-free shellac. The stuff that comes in a can at Menards, HD - where ever.


In it's straight, uncut, mixture - I put on three coats, letting the bottle stopper spin at around 28k-30k rpm. I would slow it down to put the coat on, then turn it back up.

I used just regular Viva paper towels. I then let the lathe spin for a little while, then pulled the chuck off the lathe, leaving the stopper on it - and let it sit for quite a while. When it seemed only rough, not tacky at all - I mounted the tripoli wheel, and buffed it real well, then the white diamond wheel - again, buffed it real well.

I stopped at that, no wax or anything. Now - I got a very smooth, semi-gloss type sheen going on. I'm happy with it - I think it looks nice. The picture will not do it much justice, but I'll try and snap one here in a second.

Does this finish seem like it'd work/last at all? I know alcohol is shellac's enemy.... is it dumb using this type of shellac on it?

Oh yeah - tried burning with a wire, VERY cool - I think I just wasn't holding it on long enough before.






Thanks,
Zac

[sdb777]

Not sure I'd want to put my fingers anywhere near a piece of wood turning at 28,000 - 30,000 rpm with shellac and a papertowel.....



The stopper looks great, but won't the finish 'melt' if it comes in contact with liquor?
Burn lines are nice and black! They add the extra touch to the design....



Scott (super speed vortex) B

[sachbvn]

Well - that's my concern, Scott, if there will be problems with the alcohol that could POSSIBLY come in contact with the stopper.

Scott - that was a big type - it's more like 3,000 rpm and - it's slowed down to between 600 and 1,000 when I apply it - I speed it back up to dry. Hehe, no I'm not finding new ways to start fires in my basement!


Zac

[rhull]

I wouldn't do shellac. A bottlestopper's bound to get wet with something. Either wine or water. Either way, the shellac won't like it.

[Ruffnek]

You need something besides shellac. I'd go over the stopper with mineral spirits to remove any remaining tripoli or white diamond and then top coat with wipe on poly.

I actually thought that was boodrow's final finish, too.

[sachbvn]

Boodrow talked about using mylands wax..... I don't have mylands or renessance wax.... would the stuff that came with the beal system be ok? Carnauba wax.


Zac

[maverick31]

I use wipe on poly or laquer for almost all my stoppers. I do use ca on a few but it is hard to use ca when the stoppers arent straight like pens. I used shellac on a few in the begining and then ended up sanding down and redoing with poly. I was worried the wine would mess it up. The wipe on poly works really good on everything but oily woods. (it just takes a long time) I use laquer for those oily woods. I started a blk/wht ebony one today and I am going to use laquer since the wipe on poly is doing the exact same thing as it did with cocobolo ( not curing)

[boodrow]

Zac the stopper looks great , I tend to name a lot of mine after somethin stupid , with no pun intended I would have to name that after a piece of the male anatomy, hehehehehe, just caught my eye that way. U have come a long way in a very short period of time. Keep crankin out the good lookin stoppers and u will be surprised how many u sell.
Boodrow

[boodrow]

Zac forgot to say what I meant to , I think the quality wax will help u more than u think , I love the wipe on poly , but it just takes to long for a assembly line type production. One other thing to think of along those lines is to have several of the PSI mandrels , I think I have 8. Reason bein u can take it off the lathe and let it dry overnite or what ever till ur finished with it.
Boodrow

[TDHofstetter]

Straight (100% pure) carnauba wax will help a lot, but it's not a forever finish - it needs to be reapplied periodically, as a maintenance thing. Remember waxed floors? That's how it is. Car wax is the same way.

If the target clientele is cool with rewaxing their stoppers every six months, that's a fine approach. If not, better topcoat it with SOMETHING. Spray (rattlecan) lacquer will protect the shellac from alcohol, and it dries rather quickly (not nearly as suddenly as shellac does, but it's fast) and you can get it to finish up in anything from dead-flat to wet-glossy.

Test that shellac stopper, or a scrap of wood finished exactly the same way. Splash a little red wine on it, let it sit for an hour, then wash it off with tap water & a cloth. The stopper'll turn tacky where the wine sat, and may even dissolve off completely, leaving a tacky ring around the wined spot. The wet rag will "milk" the remaining shellac. You can remove that milky-white clouding with rubbing alcohol, but... yeah. Best to overcoat the shellac with something else. Shellac's a GOOD finish, just not for water or alcohol exposure.

[sawduster]

Zac,
Shellac, even the wax free kind, melts at a fairly low temperature. What I was doing for a period of time on pens was using a piece of cheesecloth or even a cheap cotton handkerchief to which I would apply several drops of shellac, then spin the pen at the highest RPM my lathe would turn and apply the shellac to the pen. The friction would cause the alcohol to evaporate out of the shellac quite quickly and I would then continue applying the dried shellac to the pen at high speed. This actually melts the solidified shellac into the wood and gives a nice quick build and a very high gloss finish very quickly. It is basically the same thing as the shellawax sticks but without the abrasives they use and without what ever wax they put into them. IMO it gives a sturdier finish than the shellawax, though I quit using that technique because the shine didn't have the longevity I prefer. Went back to using CA for pens and other small items, though I still use shellac on decorative bowls.

To protect the shellac finish on that, I think I would use a couple coats of gloss poly. It would protect it from the harm of alcohol as well as water and would be quicker than applying a bunch of coats of poly to obtain the same level of gloss.

Like Tim said, any sort of wax you apply is going to provide limited protection and longevity to the shine.

[sachbvn]

Thanks Jerry,

It's so hard with all the different methods out there. Ya just don't wanna send anything out that's not "perfect" ya know? So - that's where I struggle, not wanting anything to go out that will ever look anything but the exact way it left my shop.....lol kinda stiff hopes huh?

I may try the shellac method followed by either Reinessance wax OR with a quick couple sprays of some spray on clear coat, let dry really well, and then back to the buffing wheels to make sure they are baby-butt smooth.



Zac