Is Shellac / SealCoat followed by wax a sufficient “finish” for a dresser
It has been very cold for many weeks now in New Jersey thwarting my plans to apply my usual Osmo Polyx to a dresser (a little taller than 4 feet) I completed making a month or so ago. Warmer temperatures that would allow me to leave the doors open for many hours are still weeks away it seems.
A couple of coats of shellac in the form of SealCoat( mixed 1:1 with alcohol) have already been applied weeks ago.
The dresser is large enough so I can’t really work in my garage until it is out of there.
Out of impatience, I began to wonder do I really need the Osmo to be applied to a dresser that is unlikely to have an alcoholic drink placed upon it.
What would you do? Wait for warm weather to apply something like Osmo or say shellac is good enough?
I’ll still apply bowling alley paste wax on top of the “finish”.
The dresser was inspired by a piece that John Reed Fox had in FWW some time ago as he wrote about his design process.
Cherry. The top is flame birch. Sliding doors have shoji paper behind pine kumiko
Replies
Shellac is fine for this piece. The look and feel is second to none in my opinion. It offers more than enough protection for a bedroom piece, particularly the de-waxed version, Seal Coat is de-waxed.
I would recommend finishing up by padding on additional coats. Using 100% ethanol or 190 proof grain alcohol you could move it into place and finish up there, without mess or unpleasant vapors. Seal coat is a 2lb cut and needs little or no dilution to pad on or brush.
One overlooked advantage of Shellac is the ease of touching up or repairing a finish.
Shellac with wax, usually preceded by boiled linseed oil for figured species, is my go-to finish for any piece not intended for a high-traffic spot. That is, no one putting their chilled beverage down or anything like that. Table tops and similar items need something tougher, but if your dresser is intended for a bedroom where you might lay a watch or put a clock, that is, light duty, it'll be fine.
I finished a dresser for my daughter in shellac that has been in daily use now for 6 years and it has held up just fine. Shellac is probably my favorite finish and it wears well. I have a mallet handle I finished in shellac and this is my daily user mallet for the past 6 or 7 years. That shellac looks just fine and likely sees 10X as much use as any piece of furniture ever will.
I am a big fan of shellac. For dresser and table tops something a little more resilient can be required depending on use. I have pieces in client's homes that have been in service for many years with shellac as the primary finish but, a layer of lacquer on the top where folks drop car keys, the mail, etc. I will also wipe a bit of lacquer around the door pulls to resist finger nails, rings, excessive use. You can see Garrett Hack do this on some of his small wall cabinets which is where I stole the idea. YMMV.
Like Watco or something less toxic like a polymerized tung oil (Sutherland Welles).
Thank you all for your thoughts.
I'll wipe on some more shellac and call it done after some Crystal Clear bowling alley wax is applied on top of the shellac - the paste wax leaves a really smooth feel.