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Stain on shellac?

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Previous Back to: General Woodworking Discussions15 Replies

Welcome! / Forums / General Woodworking Discussions / Stain on shellac?

  • This topic has 15 replies, 5 voices, and was last updated 9 years, 12 months ago by Florian.
Viewing 15 posts - 1 through 15 (of 16 total)
1 2 →
  • Author
    Posts
  • Florian
    28 January 2013 at 6:54 pm #7085

    Hello,

    does stain work on some coats of shellac?

    Florian

    I enjoy working wood in Germany.

    Settings
    Dave
    28 January 2013 at 7:08 pm #7087

    Not sure but shelac is a sealer so trying to stain over shelac might not work to well.  Can’t hurt to try though.

    -Canada

    Settings
    Serhiy D’yachyshyn
    28 January 2013 at 7:42 pm #7088

    Hi Florian) how many coats of shellac? what kind of wood? and what is the colour of stain? and this kind of trying hurt… are you willing to put stain on the  project with lots of  components? the reason is shellac should work as a wash coat but stain will not go deep enough in the wood, when you going to send between coats you have to sand very carefully to prevent of  sending  colour , and if you don’t like the colour you have to strip everything.Well its good to try on peace of wood but on the whole project its unpredictable))

    Toronto, Canada

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    Gary Hodgin
    28 January 2013 at 7:45 pm #7089

    Not an expert but I doubt you can stain over shellac.  You want to stain before the shellac or mix a dye with shellac and apply the tinted shellac.  I’ve mixed Homestead Finishing’s transtint dyes with shellac.  You maybe able to change the color of a project that has shellac on it by applying additional coats of tinted shellac.

    Settings
    Florian
    28 January 2013 at 8:56 pm #7092

    Thank you guys! It’s a big box made of german pine for my girlfriend. She likes white so I thought about stain to keep the texture of the wood visible underneath. Honestly, I have no experience with stain at all.

    So far I applied one coat of shellac. Would it be better to sand it off and start over with the white stain?

    Florian

    I enjoy working wood in Germany.

    Settings
    Dave
    28 January 2013 at 10:19 pm #7099

    Florian, I’m not really sure but it sounds like you will have to sand it off. Why not do a little test on a less visible part first, like the bottom of the box. My knowledge of finishing projects is limited to danish oil and wax 🙂

    -Canada

    Settings
    Gary Hodgin
    28 January 2013 at 11:00 pm #7103

    BTW, shellac isn’t difficult to strip if necessary.  Denatured alcohol and perhaps a plastic scraper followed by some light sanding so do the trick.

    Settings
    Florian
    29 January 2013 at 9:03 am #7150

    Good morning,

    thanks for your thoughts. I read the manual of the stain and it says the wood has to be dry and absorbent. Good bye shellac, hello sandpaper. It’s a light coat so it should not take a lot of sanding.

    Are there other techniques beside staining to get some kind of transparent colour and keep the texture of the wood?

    Florian

    I enjoy working wood in Germany.

    Settings
    Gary Hodgin
    29 January 2013 at 2:19 pm #7161

    Florian,

    Yes, check out dyes as an alternative to stains in order to maintain some transparency.  When I want to color my wood (other than painting) I mixed an alcohol soluble dye with shellac.  I’ve used different ones but prefer Homestead Finishings Transtints.

    http://www.homesteadfinishingproducts.com/htdocs/TransTint.htm

    http://www.highlandwoodworking.com/woodnews/march_2006/alan_noel_march.html

     

    Settings
    Florian
    3 February 2013 at 1:35 pm #7376

    Thanks for your tips! I already wrote a longer version of this post but than the website went offline while submitting…

    I finally applied two coats of white stain after sanding off the shellac.

    I am not too happy but my girlfriend likes it. Mission completed 😉

    Two points I would like to discuss:

    A) Is it possible to apply finish to some interior parts before glueing up?

    B) I would put some wax on it as a final step. Would you go for a coat of shellac prior to waxing or would you consider this a bad idea?

    I am looking forward to hearing your ideas! 🙂

    Florian ( I hope this time it submits…)

     

    I enjoy working wood in Germany.

    Settings
    Gary Hodgin
    3 February 2013 at 3:49 pm #7380

    A) Is it possible to apply finish to some interior parts before glueing up? Yes, you can put finish on before glue-up, but be careful to not get finish on the areas where you want to apply glue. The glue will not adhere to the finish. Either be really careful or apply painter’s tape to the areas where you don’t want finish and just be careful.

    B) I would put some wax on it as a final step. Would you go for a coat of shellac prior to waxing or would you consider this a bad idea? Don’t put the wax on prior to the shellac. The shellac will not adhere to the wax. Waxing over a few coats of shellac is a good way to add a warm, satin look and feel to a shellac finish. Just be sure to give the shellac and reasonable time to cure. It takes a pretty good while for it to become fully cured but I’d wait a day or two if I had the time.

    Also, I’d apply at least two, and more frequently three or four coats of shellac, applying the wax. I lightly sand between coats with a maroon scotch bright pad. You can also use 0000 steel wool if you’re not using the water based finishes. You’re only trying to level any rough spots in the shellac finish and remove the sheen. Try to not sand through the entire coat of shellac. The idea is to build up a nice, smooth surface prior to applying the wax.

    Settings
    Florian
    3 February 2013 at 5:49 pm #7384

    Hi Gary,

    thank you! I meant to put the shellac on before the wax. Maybe my english is sometimes not very precise. Since the surface is now stained, would you still apply several coats of shellac?

    Florian

    I enjoy working wood in Germany.

    Settings
    Gary Hodgin
    3 February 2013 at 7:14 pm #7385

    Yes, I would apply at least two and maybe three. The stain (as long as it’s not one of the stain/finish mixtures) doesn’t affect how much finish to apply. I’d apply two and see how it looks. If satisfied, you could let it go at that. I’d apply a 2 to 3 lb cut of shellac. The 2 lb is what I apply. If you’re using a ready mix, such as Zinsser’s, it’s good right out of the can. I’ve read where Zinsser’s is a 2 lb cut. A 2 lb cut is a good compromise between getting enough shellac on the project and being easy to apply without problems.

    Here are some good articles on finishing by Jeff Jewitt. The 2nd, 3rd, and 4th articles tell you alot about applying and rubbing out shellac.
    http://www.homesteadfinishingproducts.com/htdocs/articles.htm

    Settings
    Florian
    4 February 2013 at 12:47 pm #7402

    I did some research today and it seems as if many people do use shellac as a primer under stain since – as they say – pine would not stain evenly without and even the wood would still absorb the stain after the thin shellac coat. Maybe I’ll try that next time. Finishing seems a similar field as sharpening 😉

    I’m looking very much forward to Paul digging in a little deeper into finishing.

    I enjoy working wood in Germany.

    Settings
    Anonymous
    4 February 2013 at 2:35 pm #7407

    Florian

    For pine I buy the ready mixed shellac sanding sealer. Used under a waxed finnish I give it three coats, used before stain, I only use one coat. Works great. 😉

    Settings
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