Reply To: Shellac Mix ratio
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You may find it hard to come up with a consistent definition of “pound cut”. The term itself is supposed to be introduced by manufacturers in different era and probably never had a clear definition. Zinsser, one of the leading manufacturer who popularised shellac in the US, in their 1913 publication of “The Story of Shellac” only state vague descriptions of “cuts” like X pound of of shellac in a gallon, without saying whether its US or imperial gallon. In those days many such products were sold in the US and Canada and it was common to label products in both U.S. gallon and Imperial gallon. So we cant just assume that a publication from New York just took gallon to mean U.S. gallon.
Until now I had just assumed its US gallon as that also matches well with the 1:8 ratio one sees mentioned all over the place. But think about it, it could be imperial gallon as that saves them money. In more modern documents Zinsser says a 3-lb cut has 29% of shellac but don’t say whether that’s by weight or volume or a mishmash of both.
Not that any of these have any real consequence for use of shellac for finishing… Just adjust the ratio until it feels right..
- This reply was modified 4 years, 1 month ago by Selva.