I earlier posted a question about finish for my raised panel fiddle back hard maple bathroom.. I debated the merits od using shellac.. No more!
It sprayed like a dream and came out far better than I hoped.. the look of those panels have depth and richness that I’d given up hope of finding. In addition waiting just a few minutes before things were hard enough to touch and being able to sand in 45 minutes meant that what I was afraid would take a week or more to do got done in one day!
Replies
Frenchy,
I agree - I'm very happy with the look and speed of shellac on hard maple. I lay a couple of coats of waterborne varnish over mine, but that's for cabinets where I need a bit more protection. I am inspired to play around some more with the shellac on it's own - love the look!
Wayne
Did you leave the shellac finish as is, or did you rub it out?
"I would never die for my beliefs because I might be wrong."
-- Bertrand Russell
I don't know if others are aware of this technique or not it's one I learned painting cars..
What I do while the paint is still wet (and since shellac dries so fast you need to really hustle especially with all the panels I had) is spray a final wash coat of almost clear alcohol.
That does two things , first it melts any runs flaws etc. together and second it puts down a shiney wet coat that doesn't need anything/much to be perfect.
In addition it cleans out the spray gun and uses up the last of the shellac..
If there had been a hint of orange peel I would have color sanded it and buffed everything out but as it wound up everything was just so close to perfect That I won't mess with it further except to put them up..
All I can say it the fiddle back which had been a bit soft or muteted really popped when the final coat of shellac and alcohol was sprayed.. (now my bathroom walls will look like the backof a Stradivarious violin!!!)
When I do work with shellac ...I wipe the shelac on with paper towels, sand a bit for smoothness, wipe with alcohol. Alcohol makes everything look better.
The reason i asked (about rubbing it out) is that shellac is generally a little too shiny for my taste. Using this technique, is that about the sheen level you got?RE: digital cameras and other computer stuff:Heck frenchy, I learned a long time ago, if I need something explained, I just find a 12 year old.
"I would never die for my beliefs because I might be wrong."
-- Bertrand Russell
Nikkiwood,
If things are a bit too shiney for my taste I let time naturally age them.. Polish it regularly with a dust cloth and it soon develops a wonderfull patina that cannot be replicated with flattening agents..
In no way does the finish I get from shellac appear as plastic looking as you get from polyurethanes nor does it have that forced"aged look that you have with "satin" finishes.
The laquer paint on my 50 year old MG is far from perfect, and yet if I were to sand everything down and repaint to eleiminate all of those flaws and scratches It might look freshly restored but in no way would it have any character or history..
Any chance we could see some pictures?
You really know how to hurt a guy don't you? Sitting by my elbow is a nice nearly new Nikon Coolpix 3100. yep the cords etc are all here and It's real easy to walk down into the basement and click off as many pictures as I want..
But I'm slow or stupid or retarded or something, I can't make pictures appear up here. I've gone back to the dealer I've had friends try to show me how, I even drove to California and asked my buddy to lend me his son.. We got pictures posted (of work on my timberframe) and they probably are in the archieves someplace.
This is a guy who works with computers all of the time. he's a pro and does some wonderful creative stuff for many of the major record labels (and even some movies) It took him over an hour to get them posted...
I was able to follow his moves for about 5 minutes before I was lost.. Someday if my daughter is kind maybe she'll post them and then you guys can see what I'm so excited about. Untill then expect a thousand words,....
Frenchy, get a Mac computer. Al the digital application stuff is drop dead easy to use. The Iphoto application will have you posting digital pics in seconds..... I'm in Australia but I think Mac are offering a "Mini Mac" computer in the US that you plug your "old" peripherals into (keyboard, monitor, etc) for about $400?? Just a thought. I'm lousy with computers, but even I can use Mac digital applications.
Mac is a computer that was extremely popular a decade ago but has been all but replaced with the IBM PC clones.. If I go into a computer store I'll find aisle upon aisle of computer stuff for IBM's and that lower shelf over in the corner is stuff for the Mac versions..
Too bad,, I think Bill Gates is exactly the wrong sort of business model and his almost total domination of the market place is disturbing to me..
If yu have an Apple store near you, you might be surprized and at the least owe it to yourself to check them out before writing them off. Both my wife and I have Macs and upgrade as the new and fantastic software comes out. It's really easy to use and we send photos all over the place without a hitch. And, by the way, Apple is still the largest computer company manufacturing and selling its own line. The Windows platforms are segmented among a lot of assemblers -- one reason IBM got out of the business. I used to be a non-Apple user.
Two really nice things about the Mac: (1) There's a program that allows you to very easily write your software called "Realbasic" and (2) you don't have to worry about a bazillion new viruses and download the latest security patch every five minutes (exaggerated slightly to achieve the "frenchy" level of hyperbole). Good to see you posting again. Ed
So you're using a Mac now and have a girlfriend? The two must be related.
What is this freakin' interest in my sex life. You already converted me over to liberalism. What are you my guidance counsellor or something now? Go away. Go learn how to file saws or something. <G> Sadly, I don't think Quicken for Mac is as robust as the PC version - I've used both. But go ahead and buy a Mac, learn a little about programming and write your own checkbook program. Jays, Mark get out there and do something! Instead of skiing and complaining all the time.Ed
I never complain when I'm skiing.
Sadly, there's no easy way to convert data from Quicken Windows to Quicken Mac. Quicken doesn't recommend it and apparently you lose some of your data in the transition. So it doesn't look good for the Mac. This is said by way of stoic observation, not complaint.
So the thing with the girlfriend has advanced to the point of having a sex life?
Frenchy, I understand what you're saying re the PC dominance. But once you've tried a Mac you'll never look back. (Sounds like an advertisement!). Actually, there's lots of Mac stores down here in Australia. They're quite popular. Our computers (we have 2 macs on ethernet) never crash. We don't get viruses. And it's set up for the digital world (music, photo's, movies, etc.) Why do I know this. I have 2 teenage kids who can surf around on these things like crazy. Anyway, Mac's might not be as widely used as pc's, but they're worth a look.Enough on computers. Good luck with the polishing.Richard
Since my kids got iPods and I downloaded iTunes onto my four-year-old PC clone laptop, I've actually been toying with the idea of buying a Mac laptop. I know that's what Apple is hoping will happen with the success of the iPod and it makes some sense. Applications like word processing and spreadsheets is now old news; the cool stuff is music and pictures and so on. And the Mac has always been better at that stuff. And since so much of what we all use computers for is Internet-based anyway. . . .
The one program I worry about is Quicken. Is the Mac version up to par with the PC version?
Disclosure: I was a Mac user 15 years ago before giving it up in disgust as the world of PC software exploded while the world of Mac software remained in the stone age.
Mark, sorry, can't help you re Quicken on a Mac. Don't know. We do have Microsoft Word, Excel & Powerpoint running on the Mac. No problem. I'd say it's essential to load these on a Mac because often you get microsoft files sent from PC people and so it's easier to open them....At the end of the day...Microsoft Windows is just a cut & paste copy of Mac, but running on top of DOS. (I wonder how Microsoft was able to get away with this legally?). But with Mac, the whole GUI etc is the operating sysyem. I think that's why they run so much better than pc's. But I'm not an expert.Richard
Mark, some info I thought might interest you...http://weblog.infoworld.com/techwatch/archives/001264.htmlRichard
Thanks. I really think I'd like to buy a Mac but I can't do it unless Quicken converts pretty well. Also, it's probably crazy because the whole office is Windows, of course.
Sorry, didn't mean to cause you any pain. I remember your timberframe pictures, which is why I asked. That, and blo & shellac is my favorite finish, especially on figured maple. I also have a cherry 1/2-bath in the planning stages, so I like to see what others have done.
I have a Coolpix also, which came with Nikonview. If I plug the camera into a USB port and turn it on, a window pops up for uploading the pictures. I just make sure Nikonview is selected and click on the transfer button. It really is that easy. Did it come with yours?
There was one time when I plugged in the camera, that the transfer window didn't pop up. I re-installed Nikonview, but it didn't make a difference. Turns out the card I had the pictures on was in my camera bag, and the one in the camera was blank, so there were no pictures to transfer (hence no need for the transfer window). Once I put the correct card in the camera, it worked fine. Go figure...
Froed,
You make it sound so simple, Yeh I have Nikonview already loaded and reloaded and re-reloaded and still I fail to make stuff happen.. Grrrrrrrrr..
I desperately need a 12 year old!
"12 year old"You can have one of mine. I have 3 (yes triplets). And don't ask "What are you going to do when they start driving?" They are not going to start driving :-)Mark
Measure it with a micrometer, mark it with chalk, cut it with an ax.
How much to rent one and can I pay you in wood?
Can't help you with a 12-yo, but it looks like you got some offers. Does the operating system matter? I'm not a computer genius by any stretch, but I know some programs don't like to work with an older OS. We have XP (I think).
Hope you figure it out.
Yeh, mines a XP and according to the computer geek at work that's atl east half of my problem but my lap top seems to be just as bad...
If you're running XP, and the camera's a Coolpix (presumably uses a Compact Flash card - I think they all do), then here's my recipe for photo simplicity.
Skip Nikonview.
Go buy a CF card reader - this will be under $20.
Download Irfanview (free basic photo program) or Picasa (more elegant but more complex free photo program from the Google folks).
Take pics. Remove the card and plug it into the reader (using the camera to move pics is both sloooow and eats batteries).
Treat the card / reader like another drive on your computer - I generally just cut-and-paste all the pics from my CF card to a folder on my hard drive, and work with them from there.
Use Irfanview or Picasa to resize appropriately for posting / emailing pics. You can also very simply sharpen, crop, and do some basic cleaning up if you like. XP will 'rotate' all pics in batches, from Windows Explorer folders. My new D70 will auto-rotate pics (senses when the camera's held vertical) in Nikonview, but it's so easy this way that I don't bother.
From there on, posting pics is different on every forum ... but I assume that's not where your problem lies.
Email me with any questions - I've walked 11 siblings through this in order to see pics of nieces and nephews, so I have some experience teaching the basics.
Clay
miami,
Em, it sounded ok untill you got to download infraview, I er, don't know what that is or how to do it.. Could you please send over a 12 year old who's extremely patient?
Another drive on my computer? which little icon or button do I press to find that?
No problem!
For Windows XP, go to http://www.tucows.com/adnload/194967_75076.html to download the XP version of Irfanview. It'll show/ask you WHERE you are downloading it to in your computer - for ease, 'browse,' and choose 'desktop.' This is important - you need to be able to find it after you've downloaded it! Think of the computer as a series of nested folders - it's a useful mental analogy, and it's how Windows is organized anyway - you gotta know what folder and file things are in to be able to fing them. Simplest photo storage might be to right-click on a blank space anywhere on your desktop, then hit New > Folder. Name that folder 'Photos' or something similarly original, and dump all your pics into folders you create within that one.
That will leave a new icon on your desktop, named something like 'iviewXXXX.exe.' Doubleclick on that icon, and follow the popup instructions (accept all default choices). That will install Irfanview, and you'll have a new (amazingly, singularly ugly) icon on your desktop labelled Irfanview 3.95 (or similar) linking you to the program.
As to finding the reader - Once your new CF card reader is plugged in to the back of your computer (probably a USB connection, a little flat tab in a little flat slot - don't worry, it simply will not fit any place, or any orientation, but the right way), doubleclick 'My Computer' on your desktop - it will show all the drives. (C) is your main hard drive. Your new CF reader will be assigned a letter automatically - mine says 'SanDisk ImageMate (G).' If your CF card reader comes with a disk of software, I'd say ignore it - XP can drive almost anything you're likely to buy. If you want to buy a CF reader online, this one is a reasonable choice at $14 --
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B00008ZPHW/qid=1113602920/sr=8-8/ref=pd_ka_1/002-7002580-5662440?v=glance&s=electronics&n=507846
Doubleclick this new reader/disk, then doubleclick through the folders as they appear (for a Coolpix, the first folder you see will be 'DCIM,' then '100NIKON') - then you'll get to all your pics! To see them all as thumbnails, while in that folder, hit View, then Thumbnails at the top of that window.
We've wandered pretty far, so in a symbolic gesture, I'll say that many layers of 1.5# cut fresh-mixed shellac is the finish I default to, unless I have a specific reason to do something else - somehow it's fallen out of popular favor, but it's a great finish, and easy to repair/renew when the time comes.
Frenchy, truly, feel free to email me when you get stuck, or are ready to learn about resizing, cropping, rotating, etc. - I'm genuinely happy to help. Considering all the WW stuff that I've learned from you and others here, it's nice to be able to offer help for a change!
Clay
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