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15 December 2020 at 6:42 am #690139
Sam, that’s an interesting product. They say it’s denatured and composed of ethanol and water? I wonder how that works.
Good price for 95% ethanol, about 25% cheaper than Emmerson. Hope it works for you.
15 December 2020 at 6:22 am #690137Thanks Larry. Unfortunately Florida bans 190 proof Everclear. We might enjoy ourselves too much.
10 December 2020 at 6:12 pm #689599Maybe someone might be interested how my experiment turned out. I did buy 1/2 gallon 1.9L) of Emmerson 95% ethanol and mixed a small mount of 2# cut garnet flakes from Lee Valley. I mixed an equal concentration using 99.5% isopropyl. At room temperature (75F / 24C) the ethanol solution dissolved completely in less than 3 hours with occasional stirring to unclump the flakes. The isopropyl took a lot more time & effort. Even after 24 hours there are still some undissolved solids in the mixture.
Comparing application and finish, I brushed both solutions and some Zinser canned shellac on scrap hardwood. I don’t know the date of the Zinser (can arrived damaged, leaking with the date rubbed off the can — thank you Amazon.) They all felt the same on the brush. The ethanol dried faster and harder than the others. The Zinser was slowest and still felt sticky after 20 minutes. The isopropyl felt dry enough for a second coat after a minute or less.
Using a pad (roughly 1# cut), the ethanol really stands out. In thin layers it seems to dry almost instantly. I could go back and pad over within seconds without drag or disturbing previous layer. The Isopropyl solution needed some rest (30 seconds) between applications. On a large surface you could probably pad continuously with the isopropyl. I didn’t try the Zinser on the pad.
So, I’m really happy with the performance of the Emmerson product.
11 November 2020 at 3:26 am #685767Thank you BenoĆ®t. The problem here in the good ol’ USA is denatured alcohol may be less than 1/3 ethanol. Because methanol is cheaper, most brands of denatured alcohol sold here are mostly that, methanol.
Based on what I’ve read and my own experiments, I am confident we can dissolve shellac in methanol, ethanol or isopropyl alcohol just fine — as long as there is little water in solution, and the solids aren’t allowed to settle and clump.
When applied, methanol evaporates fastest and isopropyl slowest. This affects how the solution feels on the brush and behaves on a pad. With experience I’ll bet anyone can learn to use any mixture of alcohols.
But, since methanol is more flammable and toxic than the others, I’d just as soon stay away from it. And since all your “classic” texts about shellac were written by people probably using plain ethanol, that would be my preferred solvent.
I think I’m going to try the Emmerson Labs product. Only downside, I have to buy half a gallon. I need a good flux cleaner anyway, isopropyl has gotten crazy expensive what with all the COVID….
7 November 2020 at 5:45 am #685265Thanks for the replies. The Lee Valley product is not available on their US website at the moment.
I have used 99% isopropyl to clean brushes, thin Zinser shellac. It seemed to work for a several projects. But I want to mix my own and not stray too far from the beaten path till I know more.
Klean-Strip Green is a product I am considering. It is (minimally) 80% Ethanol, and reasonably priced.
There is a “laboratory” on Amazon call themselves Emerson Labs who appear to be re-packaging a 95% Ethanol (4.6% n-Heptane) made by Greenfield Pharma in CT USA. Very low water content. Anyone ever tried this stuff?
11 August 2020 at 3:55 am #673435Thanks for all the replies.
Filing the blade I used Paul’s guide with a fine mill file followed by an EZELap super fine hone. And I’ve worked it freehand over diamond plates. I don’t see a big difference betwixt the two. I’m confident the edge is good. After cleaning up the back it’s smooth, won’t snag a q-tip, feels about as sharp as a 45 degree edge should feel I reckon.
I’ve used both a fine steel burnisher and a 1/4″ carbide rod for turning the burr. The carbide is very slippery and I can’t put much pressure on it, but I think it gives me the best control. I can go from next to nothing to very heavy. I agree with Sandy and others who say lighter is better, though the blade dulls pretty quick. I think my blade may be defective because one corner is hardened, and the rest is quite soft — softer than any steel I’ve ever sharpened. I have a feeling it was on the end of a sheet & didn’t get the right heat treatment. Veritas is good about such things, I’ll ask for a replacement.
I have been futzing with this thing for a month or so, not sure how many hands-on hours. I’ve filed away about a millimeter of steel trying different combinations of burr and bend, all in search of the mystical “glass like” finish the internet experts tell me I should get. I’m beginning to think the internet experts exaggerate, from time to time. I know that sounds preposterous, but there I said it. Until I can actually witness a scraper laying down a finish equivalent to a smoothing plane, I’m going with that hypothesis.
On undemanding cherry heartwood I can plane half a board, scrape the other half. The scraper produces fluffy curls. The difference between the plane & scraper is both visible and tactile. Hit that board with 3 or 4 swipes of 400 grit paper and the difference goes away. I would call scraper finish a “damned good” finish, but not “glass like”. In spots where the plane leaves an awful finish, “damned good” is damned good. I’m happy with that.
I am trying to complete a cherry table top with lots of “character”. It’s a labor of love, right now mostly labor.
Woodworking is such a tactile business, how I wish I could touch others’ work. Thanks again for the help,
Jeff7 July 2020 at 3:24 am #668620Thank you Larry. I don’t know enough to dislike weight, so all is good. I have ceramic tile in the shop floor, so it should be a fair fight….
3 July 2020 at 4:35 am #668111Just curious, does the lateral adjuster swing to one side when the blade shifts? I’m guessing it does not, because why wouldn’t you simply adjust the adjuster and get on with it?
I have a No. 3 which had a cracked frog which I’m guessing flexed under load, doing somewhat the same thing you describe. The lateral adjuster did not move appreciably when the blade shifted. I would end up eventually with the adjuster hard over to port and the blade still out of wack. Resetting the blade on the frog fixed it, till it didn’t.
An uncracked frog fixed it.
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