Reply To: What shellac flakes to buy?
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I used to get flakes directly from India. For a few years now its dewaxed shellac from Lee Valley for me — I think they get it from an Indian supplier. They also have a special “refined in Germany” version that is 3 times pricier — never tried.
As for solvent, hard to get hold of pure ethanol which requires special license to distribute and is heavily taxed as “booze” without an end user license. I know of the paperwork we go though to get it at work for research purposes. Denatured alcohol (methylated and hence toxic) is the usual option for woodworkers, but not that easy to find either. And I can never understand why make something like ethanol toxic with additives because of some trade rules. These days my preference is IPA (isopropanol 99%) sold as rubbing alcohol in pharmacy stores. Get the 99% version, not the 70% one. In some places its easier to get rubbing alcohol containing 95% denatured alcohol which will work too. IPA dissolves shellac, but takes a bit longer than with ethanol (pure or denatured). I leave it overnight with occasional shaking in between.
95% food grade ethanol (like 190 proof everclear or similar rectified spirits) may also work well if available but should be much pricier than IPA or denatured ethanol because of taxes on drinking alcohol.
The biggest advantage of using flakes and mix as needed is the long shelf life of flakes.
- This reply was modified 5 years, 10 months ago by Selva.