Replies

1. 
   Rich14 | Mar 07, 2007 12:08am | #1

   Those places are gateways into the 11th dimension and the shellac is "leaking" in there on its way to an alternate universe, completely disapperaing from ours. Now back to our regular programming . . .

   Huh?

   You have resanded those places and applied several coats of shellac, and "there appears to be no shellac there?"

   What  do the areas look like? Do they still look like raw wood? If you examine them in oblique light, there is nothing on the surface?

   Rich

1. 
   jeanlou | Mar 07, 2007 03:43am | #2

   Rich

   11th dimension? alternate universe? do they do woodwork?..they must, because they are stealing shellac. :-)  JL

1. 
   Rich14 | Mar 07, 2007 05:11am | #3

   JL,There are an INFINITE number of alternate universes. In one of them there is no such thing as woodwork, or shellac. In one of them, shellac is even better than it is here. Once it goes on, and dries, it is impervious to alcohol and levels itself to a perfectly polished surface without any "rubbing out." In one of the universes Rich and JL have never heard of the Knots forum. In another JL is the king of the world. Any of them is easy to get to. They are just the thickness of a membrane (brane) away. You just have to know in which direction to go. And none of the directions is along either of our X, Y, or Z axes. Think about it.Rich

1. 
   user-83153 | Mar 07, 2007 05:58am | #4

   Rich,

     Now you're freakin' me out! That universe where shellac levels itself out to a perfectly polished surface that is impervious to alcohol.... isn't that Frenchy's finishing room?

              Rob

2. 
   jeanlou | Mar 07, 2007 06:08am | #5

   Rich

   Actually, if we are going to get into that kind of a conversation, I will leave it at; everything exists all around us, but we can only see what our energy level allows us to see. As we shift our energy, other things that we did not see before then become visible to us.  JL

1. 
   Rich14 | Mar 07, 2007 07:04am | #6

   Anyhoo guys. Does anyone have any idea what's up with Jeremey's shellac?

2. 
   jeanlou | Mar 07, 2007 07:13am | #7

   Well, I extend my antennae, and pick up the following image. The grain is undulating in the board, and he is actually trying to finish some end grain. You can see this often in birch, making it a difficult wood to finish evenly.

   Solution: keep on building the finish in the dull areas until the wood becomes saturated and a sheen shows to an acceptable level. Then continue finishing the whole board.  JL

2. 
   SteveSchoene | Mar 07, 2007 07:14am | #8

   As you can tell from the initial comments this seems a bit mysterious.  A little more information would help.  First some questions.  What kind of shellac?  What pound cut?  And, how are you applying it, by brush or by pad.  What kind of brush?   

   Does it look like the shellac has pulled back from those spots?  When you brush the shellac on does it seem not to flow onto those spots or does it just seem to all soak in, leaving no shellac on the surface? 

   What is the size of the spots?  How do the dull spots correlate to features of the grain? 

    

1. 
   jeremyillingworth | Mar 07, 2007 08:47pm | #9

   Here is the additional information.

   The shellac is Recochem brand premixed, dewaxed shellac that comes in a #3 which I was at first using thinned in half or less, but have increased in strength to try to fill the dull spots.  I am using a brush and since its not here I cannot tell you what kind, but it is not a cheap brush.

   When I apply the shellac I cover the surface evenyl as I can and the shellac seems to be absorbed into these spots.  Even when I apply shellac to just those spots in just a few minutes, they're dull again.

   The mirror is made of 13/16 thick pieces of three inch wide quarter sawn white oak.  The dull spots are always in the center of the face of the pieces.  They're about two inches wide and five or six inches long in an oblong sort of shape.  All of the pieces are from the same board and the grain on this piece is mild and even.

   jeremy

   Edited 3/7/2007 12:51 pm ET by jeremyillingworth

1. 
   Rich14 | Mar 07, 2007 09:36pm | #10

   jeremy,

   It sounds as though there is a "soft spot" in the wood that is soaking up the finish. But it's hard to understand the shape of the spot and even harder to understand how one coat, let alone several coats of shellac has not sealed the area so that no further absorption occurs.

   Rich

1. 
   SteveSchoene | Mar 07, 2007 09:48pm | #11

   I'm perplexed.  It does sound like a feature of the oak grain.  Oak can sometimes have odd porous spots, but this seem extreme to not to be associated with an obvious feature, like being at the top of an arch in plain sawed. 

   I think the solution is most likely to just carry on.  Apply several additional coats until the spot starts to fill in.  Then sand back the areas outside these spots using a largeish sanding block to level out the shellac. 

2. 
   user-83153 | Mar 08, 2007 06:14am | #12

   Jeremy,

      I agree that this must be some type of a grain anomoly. I just experienced the same thing when using shellac on some wormy, spalted maple. There was one area that just absorbed all the shellac I threw at it. Of course in my case it was pretty obvious that it was because that area had gone soft. Spalt is after all just decay caught at (hopefully) the right time before the wood rots.

     In my case the piece was designed to be rustic, so after a couple of trys at getting the shellac built up I just left it. I hope that you are able to get your project to eventually take the shellac. It seems logical that it should.

              Rob

1. 
   wooddood | Mar 08, 2007 07:26am | #13

   This is a little off the original question for this thread, but I'm getting ready to finish a vanity makeup table built mostly of walnut with a little holly for accents. I was planning on using shellac as a sealer and a top coating of Crystalac.

   A makeup table would be subject to all kinds of chemical spills- nail polish, nail polish remover, hair spray, various cosmetics, etc. Some of them contain alcohol, of course, as well as tons of other chemicals. Would shellac by itself provide enough protection, especially from the alcohol, or is the Crystalac necesary to protect the shellac?

   Thanks.

   Alan

    

1. 
   Rich14 | Mar 08, 2007 04:10pm | #14

   Alan,You have described one of the few environments in which shellac would be a very poor choice as a finish. In fact, other than as the top coating for a bar, a make-up table sounds like the most hostile envirnment imaginable for shellac, if not for lacquer. A varnish would be the finish to use.Rich

2. 
   wooddood | Mar 08, 2007 09:29pm | #15

   Thanks. I'll go with the shellac sealer coat and Crystalac top coat.

   Alan

   http://www.alancarterstudio.com

3. 
   K1500 | Mar 08, 2007 11:17pm | #16

   Did you use silicone around the shop?