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Just finished a walnut china cabinet. I stained it with minwax red mahaogany (one light coat to give it some red highlight/enhanced depth). I finished it with 6 coats of shellac (Zinsser Bullseye, 4 coats orange & 2 coats blonde).
I sprayed the shellac (seal coat cut to 1#, 6 finish coats at 3#).
I’m really thrilled at the result. It’s my first work with shellac. The warmth/depth/clarity of the finish is great. Here’s my only issue….this finish scratches very easily. Granted, it’s supposed to be easy to repair.
I was wondering if I should live with it or experiment with a topcoat of poly
(oil or water based). I know I’ll have to spray another topcoat of dewaxed shellac to get adhesion. But do I have too much shellac on it? Other options?
Am I nuts?
tia, mike in new orleans
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Please don't topcoat the shellac with poly. That would totally defeat the beauty of this traditional finish. I would try waxing it with Liberon Professional paste wax.
The six sprayed 3lb. cut coats sounds a little excessive to me, but I'm not sure what you would do about that now. Try the wax and treat the furniture with a lot of care to minimize the scratches. Next time, I'd stop at two to three coats of the 3lb. cut shellac.
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