pipemakersforum.com

Good afternoon,

I am trying to use shellac on my pipes and i have only done it once. I used a bottle of shellac i bought in an arts and crafts store and it was Filtered Shellac. When i applied it to the pipe i noticed it was a bit "gluey" and it left traces on the surface that i wasn't able to removed when buffing with brown tripoli.

I now bought shellac in it's original form and also denaturated alcohol.

What i did was put 100 grams of shellac in a jar and i added 250ml of denaturated alcohol. This was the ratio the person in the store told me to use.

My questions are:

- Is this ratio correct?
- How long will it take for the shellac to dissolve in the denaturated alcohol? Should i stir it or just leave it be?

Regarding the filtered shellac i also have can i add a percentage of denaturated alcohol to make it thinner or shouldn't i use it at all?

Thank you in advance.

Bruno

The ratios can be all over the place. Generally speaking, for pipe work you want it pretty thin.
Experiment!
The best shellac is purchased in solid form (flakes) and you "cut" it with the denatured alcohol. That needs to sit for a while in order to dissolve. Be sure to filter it after it dissolves.
If it is liquid already and you want to cut it some more, add the alky and stir.
One of the best ways to apply it is to spray it on with an air brush. Depending on the size orifice in the air brush, getting it thin enough and properly filtered is crucial. You can adjust the number of coats as needed, sanding with high grit or steel wool in between coats to get it smooth. This is not an issue so much if you are using the shellac to put a shine on blasted or rusticated surfaces.
Lots of info on the web about using shellac.
Chas.

You've done roughly a three pound cut, this should work pretty well, might be a bit thick. Thinner is always better than thicker if you are going to make a change, add solvent.

Thank you for the info guys.

I already applied it to my new three pipes and the result was way better than when i used the filtered shellac.